A Fork in the Snow
by kukrae
Summary: A suspect transport goes haywire in snow country.
1. 1

Title:  "A Fork in the Snow"

Author: kukrae

Email: kukrae03@netscape.net

Rating: PG-13

Classification: Story, Angst, Romance

Spoilers: Minor for previous stories, _Shaken Up_ and _Escapism_.

Disclaimer: Still not mine, but doesn't stop me from wishing they were ;)

Summary: A suspect transport goes haywire in snow country.

Author Notes: To follow after last chapter.

*****

Chapter 1

Tension zigged through the air of the court room as the rear door opened and the jurors filed back in to their respective seats. Once they were situated, Judge Petrovsky asked, "Has the jury reached a verdict?" 

"It has, your Honor. We the jury find the defendant, Ronald Blaine, not guilty." 

"Thank you. Mr. Blaine, you are free to go. Court is adjourned." 

At the sound of the gavel falling, Detective Elliot Stabler looked solemnly over to the woman standing behind the prosecution's table. 

"I'm sorry, Elliot," said Novak as she placed papers into her briefcase. "There just wasn't enough evidence. We knew it was close but we had to try." 

"What do I tell Mrs. Gladstone and her daughter, Casey? That I'm sorry, but we didn't have enough evidence to convict her daughter's rapist? That even with the corroborating DNA evidence the jury still didn't find that SOB guilty? That's what you want me to tell them? God, I'm sick of this." He turned on his heel and stormed quickly out of the court room. 

Twenty minutes later after leaving a very upset Mrs. Gladstone with her husband in one of the anterooms, he slammed through a set of the doors into the squadroom. He removed his coat, threw it over the back of his chair and sat down heavily while reaching up with one hand to loosen his tie. Detective Olivia Benson looked up from the file she was reorganizing with a look of concern on her face. "Everything okay, Elliot? I'm going to hazard a guess and say that the verdict came back 'not guilty' on Blaine, didn't it?" 

"I've had it, Olivia. It's just one thing after another piling up on me and I've had it." At that he reached out and picked up the mug of pens that sat next to his computer monitor and pitched it across the desk at the lockers to his left. The sound of it shattering and the pens scattering caused everyone in the squadroom to stop what they were working on and glance over at the infuriated detective. "I'm tired, Liv. Every damn day we work our asses off and pull in the best evidence we can. Hell, in this case we even had DNA backing us and what happens? We _still_ can't convict the bastard. Why is that? What are we doing so wrong that even with modern technology we can't get a conviction? That little girl is going to be scarred forever because her rapist is back out on the street and all we can do is wait for the bastard to do it again." He took a deep breath and stood once again, picking up his coat. "It's not fair. I'm going for a walk." 

Olivia just sat there stunned. Elliot throwing a fit was actually a pretty unusual occurrence, and with this case, totally unexpected. They both had known that more evidence would really be needed to nail Blaine, but could not get it to turn up on the re-canvass of the neighborhood nor through subsequent searches of his property. _Something else must have lit his fuse_, she mused. She looked up as the door to Cragen's office opened and the captain strode out to stand between their desks. "What in the hell was all that commotion about?" he asked of anyone who cared to answer. 

"Elliot just flipped out, 'Cap," answered Fin, glancing over at Munch, who still had a phone receiver up to his ear. 

"Great, just what we don't need, Elliot on a rampage. He'll be like a lion with a sore paw. Olivia? Care to go after your partner?" 

"Not really, Captain. He went for a walk. My suggestion? Let him walk. Not even I am going after him after that little session," she remarked as she leaned back in her chair. 

"You're probably right," said Cragen. Looking over at the other detectives, he continued, "Fin, Munch, I've got a job for you. The Police Chief of Stowe, Vermont, called and it seems that Brian Lake has finally turned up. Seems he wanted to spend some time skiing but couldn't resist a couple of the ladies at the lodge. He's been arrested for attempted rape, and when they ran him through the database, our five cases turned up. They're willing to turn him over to us sans their case if we get our butts up there today and take him off their hands."

"No can do, Captain," said Munch, now off the phone. "My illustrious partner and I are due in court this afternoon with Novak. The trial has already pushed two days and she'll attempt to kill us herself if we ask for a continuance."

Olivia seized the opportunity and spoke up. "We'll take it, Captain." 

He turned to look questioningly at her. "Are you sure, Olivia? Don't you want to talk to Elliot first?"

"Captain, think of it this way. With his current mood, do you really want him around here throwing things? This way I can get him out of the office for a bit. He hates road trips so maybe I can get him to talk." She shrugged as if this was a normal thing for her and her partner.

"He does appear to be worse than the last time...do I dare hope you two get stuck up there for a few days to cool him down?"

"Well, hopefully it'll only take the ride up. I'll call him and let him know. If we're heading for snow country, I want to grab an overnight bag, just in case." Just as she returned to her desk to pick up the phone, her partner walked through the double doors. To her, he appeared to be almost downtrodden, as if the weight of the world had taken a seat on those broad shoulders of his. 

She stood and walked over to meet him at the coat rack as he shrugged off his overcoat to hang up. "Hey, partner, guess what? I've got a really neat surprise for you," she grinned at him, trying to lighten his mood.

"Go away, Liv, and take Fin and Munch with you," he groused at her.

"Well, as entertaining as that sounds, Cragen isn't going to go for all three of us taking a road trip. So, grab your coat and let's go."

"Go where?" He still hadn't moved.

"Vermont," she smiled at him.

Elliot looked up at her in disbelief. "Liv, I can't go to Vermont," he whispered while looking over at Munch and Fin to make sure that they hadn't overheard him.

"Well, why not?" she asked totally perplexed.

"Look, I haven't told you everything that's going on right now, but I _can't_ go on an overnighter to Vermont."

"Elliot. We don't have much choice. Stowe PD have Brian Lake in custody after he attempted to rape a woman at one of the ski lodges. Cragen's sending us to get him."

"But that's their case, Liv."

"Yeah, I know. But they're due in court or else Branch will have Novak prosecuting jaywalkers if they try for another continuance. C'mon. We've done this before. What makes this time so different?"

He looked back down at the floor and leaned his shoulder on the lockers in defeat. "Kathy's made me agree to go to a marriage counselor with her. Our first appointment is set for tomorrow."

"Oh," Olivia said quietly. "So, we'll do it in one day. We can be back tonight, no problem."

"Liv, be reasonable. Stowe is at least a six hour drive. Can't they hold this guy until Monday?"

"No. They want him out of there now. They're not going to pursue their case in lieu of the five that we have against him. Look, it's not a problem. I can transport on my own. I'll just take a sedan with a cage screen. You need to take care of this. I know I don't need to remind you that Kathy is the best thing that's ever happened to you. The two of you need to work this out. I'll be fine."

"You'll be fine? Olivia, this guy raped five women. If you think Cragen is going to let you –forget that. If you think _I'm_ going to let you go by yourself, you're out of your mind."

Olivia crossed her arms across her chest and glared at Elliot. "Let me?" 

"Yes, you heard me. Let you. Give me a few minutes to call Kathy. Maybe she can call and reschedule the appointment for next week. We'll be owed a day off so I'll just schedule it for whatever day she can get the appointment."

"No. You're staying here and I, a grown woman and a detective, am going by _myself_. You sanctimonious pain in the ass," she spit out as she turned on her heel and stalked away. "You stay here and fix your marriage. It may be the only relationship with a woman you're able to salvage."

"Ouch," Fin remarked to John.

"You got that right," said John. "Elliot, you might want to tread with caution. She's beginning to sound an awful lot like my second ex...right before the divorce."

"Shut up, John," muttered Elliot as he continued to look in the direction that Olivia had stalked off and then began to follow.

"Hey, what the hell is going on out here? I could hear Olivia yelling from the men's room," said Cragen as he came out into the squadroom.

"Well, it would seem that Elliot has a scheduling conflict with the trip to Vermont. When Olivia offered to go alone, Elliot said he wouldn't let her –"

"Say no more," said Cragen as he raised a hand to halt him. "Where are they?"

"They went that way," said Fin as he pointed to the hall.

Cragen walked down the hall looking for the two current problem children. _Why have kids when you can work with them daily_, he mused. _Most of the time it's Munch giving me the headache_. He found the two of them standing at one of the large pane windows overlooking the cityscape. Unfortunately, neither one of them appeared to be speaking.

"You know, guys, standing here is not getting you both to Vermont and back very quickly. What's going on?" he asked to at least get one of them to talk.

"Captain, permission to go pick up the suspect on my own?" asked Olivia. "Elliot has an appointment that he must keep for tomorrow and he has a problem with me driving on my own." Darting a glance to her side quickly, she looked back at Cragen and continued, "I'm a full-fledged officer and this isn't a problem."

"Olivia-" Elliot started.

"Hold on, Elliot," said Cragen raising a hand to halt his words. "Olivia. No one is doubting your ability as a police officer _or_ as a female officer to complete this job. It all goes back to the rules that are already in place for everyone's safety. Two officers must accompany a suspect during transport. That's a mandatory requirement." Looking at Elliot, he continued, "Now, this appointment. Would it be possible to reschedule?"

"I'm not positive, Captain, but if I can have a minute to call Kathy, I can find out."

"Go, call her." Elliot walked off, pulling out his cell phone. Olivia watched him leave and when he turned the corner, she turned to Cragen. "Captain, don't make him go. He _has_ to be at this appointment."

Taking a moment to really look at her, he said, "Olivia, Elliot has to save his marriage on his own," he smiled to soften his words, "You're a great partner to him, but you can't do that for him, too."

"I know, but he needs to deal with this now, Captain. If he doesn't, I'm afraid he _will_ lose the best thing in his life."

They both looked out the window for a bit until the sound of footsteps alerted them that Elliot had completed his phone call.

Cragen said softly, "I wouldn't presume to know what the best thing in his life is, Detective. Some things just might surprise you."

Olivia looked up at him questioningly, but didn't say anything. Turning to Elliot, she said, "So, partner. Are we going skiing?"

He grinned slightly. "Not if I don't want broken bones, we aren't. 'Cap, not a problem, Kathy will be able to reschedule the appointment."

"Well, then what are you two waiting for? Get going." Cragen turned and walked off. _Oh boy, the fireworks are going to fly. Definitely happy I won't be in that car_.

*****


	2. 2

Chapter 2

Olivia hadn't said two words to him since they'd left the station house.

"C'mon, Liv. I said I'm sorry. I'm also sorry I haven't told you what's been going on. I thought I could take care of everything."

"We should take turns driving. We'll stop in an hour to get food and take a bathroom break. Then I'll take over driving," she said as if he hadn't uttered a word.

"Are you going to be this way the entire drive?" he asked, now beginning to get a little fed up with his partner.

"No," Olivia said reaching over and turning on the radio.

"Fine. You just give me a clue when you're ready to talk like an adult and quit this damn avoidance crap." Figuring that was the last that'd be said for a while, he kept his eyes on the road and his mouth shut.

"I am _not_ one of your kids, Elliot."

"Really? That's good to know because you're acting like one of them."

She turned to him with a complete look of fury on her face. "You seem to think you have this...this _duty_ to save me from myself. I can take care of myself, you know."

Completely stunned, he fired back, "Have I _ever_, at any time, stated that you couldn't do your job? You know the rules as well as I do. You _know_ two officers are required on transport. Why are you giving me such grief, Liv? I get enough of that at home recently." He stopped a moment to look over at her. "So I want to protect you...I thought that was what partners did? You've got _my_ back, why not the reverse?"

"Because _you_ go overboard. Or have you forgotten the last time you decided that I needed protection?" She looked back at him and he could see the anger in her gaze. She really was spoiling for a fight.

He sighed. Just what he needed. First Kathy had royally gone off on him when he'd called her earlier. Yes, he knew this appointment was important. No, he didn't know about the transport duty until just a few minutes before he called....they'd only just gotten the call from the locals shortly before that. Yes, it'd probably be overnight, he'd try to make it back if at all possible...just don't count on the weather cooperating. Yes, Olivia was going with him...she's his partner, why shouldn't she be the one going? No, neither Munch nor Fin could go. Why? Because they had court. Just thinking about that conversation was giving him a headache.

And now his partner was pissed at him. He just couldn't win with the women in his life today. He snapped back to the present and considered her question. "No, I haven't forgotten. Let's be totally honest here for a moment. Can you actually say that I was wrong to call in a detail? Did you know that Cragen had also placed the same call but mine had come in first? You going to be angry with him for doing so, or is this anger reserved strictly for me?"

"He at least listened when I said I didn't want one. That's more than you did. I don't need you to look out for me, Elliot. I'm not one of your daughters."

"That's not fair."

"Neither is treating me differently than you would Fin or John or Cragen."

"Of course I treat you differently. You're _my_ partner. The other three aren't. Liv, what is this really about? Is it because I do see you as a woman? I try not to on the job. I've seen you take down perps twice your size. Have I _ever_ interfered with you when you are working that way?"

"No," she admitted.

"That's right. I've backed you up when you've taken the lead like that. So _where_ are you going with this? I don't want you and I on opposite sides right now. I _can't_ have you there and I won't. I will keep at you on this trip until you explain to me why it is you feel that I don't respect you as both a detective and as a woman."

The car was silent for the next few miles as they both took a break and listened to the radio. 

A few minutes later, Olivia quietly asked, "Elliot, are we friends?"

"Yes, definitely," he answered immediately.

"Best friends?"

Elliot thought for a moment. "Yes," he answered solemnly.

Olivia didn't know where to go next after that answer, so she just settled back into her seat, listened to the music and watched the snow fall just a bit heavier against the windows as they continued north.

*****

Police Department

Stowe, Vermont

5:25 pm

After the long, tension-filled drive, the two detectives finally arrived at the local police department. Exiting the car, they both stood and stretched a bit to relieve the tension in their backs from sitting so long. Looking over the roof of the car, Elliot took note of the quantity of snow that lay piled up in front of the façade of the department. "Too bad we really don't have skis, Liv. Look up there at the mountain," he said, pointing towards what must be part of one of the ski resorts.

She turned and looked. "I will admit that it is absolutely gorgeous. But, unless someone brought battery-powered socks, I'm going inside. C'mon, you can look at the snow later."

Elliot followed her up the steps and through the doors to the warm interior of the main office.

"Hi, folks. Can I help you?" asked the officer sitting behind the first desk they came to.

"Yeah. I'm Detective Benson and this is my partner, Detective Stabler. Your department contacted our SV unit in New York in regards to a suspect you have in custody. Brian Lake."

"Oh, the Sex Crimes unit. Yeah, Chief Gilson said they'd be sending someone up."

"Well, we're here, Officer Ford," Olivia smiled as she caught sight of his name badge. "So, who do we see about the paperwork?"

"That, unfortunately, is a problem. See, before the Chief called your boss, he hadn't checked with the county DA. When he placed that call later, the DA was unwilling to give up our case. He wants to file here in Stowe against Mr. Lake." Seeing the looks of disbelief on the faces before him, he continued quickly. "But, don't worry. Chief Gilson has been over at the DA's office since that call trying to get this all straightened out so you folks can get back on the road southbound."

"With or without the prisoner?" asked Elliot.

"Hopefully with, Detective Stabler. I'd like to get this guy out of my holding cell."

"Gives you the creeps, huh?" Olivia smiled.

"Yes, ma'am. Got four daughters. The farther away this Lake guy is from here, the better I'll feel," said Ford.

"I hear you," she replied. "Well, if that's the case, where could we get a good dinner and coffee? Well, coffee for Elliot," she turned and glanced at him. "Hot chocolate for me." At Elliot's look she said, "Hey, how often do I get near the ski slopes? You _have_ to have hot chocolate when you get up here."

"Mable's is down the road. Best hot chocolate in the area."

Olivia looked over at Elliot expectantly. He sighed, "Oh, all right." Looking up at the officer, he continued, "Guess we'll be down at Mable's, Officer Ford. And from the look on my partner's face, I'm guessing that this little excursion is my treat." A small grin appeared as he looked at Olivia out of the corner of his eye. _Phew. I was hoping she'd smile at that one. Maybe she'll lay off for a bit_, he thought.

"I'll call you when the chief gets back," said Ford as he held up the card Olivia had given him.

******

"Hot chocolate, a burger and fries. Make them cheese fries and a house salad," Olivia ordered.

"Gee, Liv, hungry? You only snacked about a hundred miles ago," Elliot grinned at her before placing his order of the same. It actually did sound good. Even the hot chocolate.

"Bite me, Elliot," Olivia said with a dark look at her partner before she trained her gaze on the scenery that was viewable from their booth.

_Uh oh, still in the doghouse_, he thought as he took a sip of water. Aloud he said, "Guess that answers that." At her questioning look, "You're still pissed at me."

"I'm not pissed at you, Elliot," she said while still looking out the window.

"You sure act as if you are." 

"Maybe I'm pissed at myself for not asking Cragen to come with me, or waiting for Munch or Fin to be done so one of them could come with me so you could be back in New York with Kathy."

He thought about her words. "I'm your partner, Liv. My place is here. The appointment can be changed."

She sighed. "Our partnership will be there as long as the both of us are still breathing. A marriage, on the other hand..."  

"...Is a constantly changing creature, Liv. This isn't the first time we've had difficulties and it probably won't be the last. Please don't worry about it, okay?"

"I just can't make the little voice in my head that keeps saying 'He should be in New York' shut up."

"Well, tell it to talk in one of your other languages then. Everything will be fine. Now, to totally change the subject, I almost wish we didn't have to return tonight. I saw a sign for cross-country ski rentals. That'd be fun. My legs would never forgive me, but you were right earlier. How often do we get out of the city? I know it's been at least seven years since I've skied. We've never taken the kids because it's so expensive for the six of us."

Olivia looked at him as if he'd fallen off his rocker. "Elliot, I'm pretty sure you're already in the dog house for this little day trip. If you decide to stay and have fun, Kathy will throw all of your clothes out on the lawn and change the locks. We get him, we go home. Period."

Elliot sighed. "I know. But even I want to have fun sometimes without the family, Liv. If this had been just a normal run, you know we would be treating this as one of our escapes. It's more than dinner, but it'd be fun and a break for us. And look at it this way, if my best friend was still the guy who was my best friend back in college, Kathy would care less if we did a weekend up on the slopes. She'd actually encourage it because it'd be someone non-police. But, because my best friend is a woman, it's automatically taboo and honestly, that just isn't fair. Yeah, we'll get this guy and go home. But the idea of a fun weekend like that will still be in my head."

"Take Fin," was Olivia's advice as the salads were set down in front of them.

His mouth gaped slightly. "Fin? You want to scare everyone on the hill? His music alone would have them running away." He shook a finger at her. "And don't even _think_ of mentioning Munch. I'd hurt him before the first conspiracy theory about fake snow killing people left his mouth or that the Abominable snowman actually resides in Vermont." He watched a tiny grin appear and disappear rapidly on her face. "Did the words 'best friend' not register in that mass between your ears? That's what would make a trip like that fun." He looked down and dug into his salad.

"Yes, and it would also make a divorce lawyer happy as Kathy sues you for everything you and she have accumulated over the years; including Kathleen, Dickie and Liz."

"Yeah, well..." he muttered the rest of which she couldn't understand. At her raised eyebrow, he said, "Nothing. It was nothing."

"Liar."

He let the conversation wane as the waitress brought the remainder of their meal and they dug in. Elliot looked out the window and thought as he worked through the basket of fries next to him. _I'm not lying. I'm just not being totally honest...with myself._

"Elliot, talk to me," said Olivia as she watched the emotions cross his face. She set her burger down and crossed her arms on the table.

"What about, Liv? My marriage?"

"If you want to."

"I'll admit, it's been rocky lately. But, I'll also be the first to say that I do _not_ want to go to these appointments. If I can't talk to a shrink at work about my work, how in the hell am I supposed to talk to one about my marriage?"

"Elliot—" Her cellphone chirped. "Hello? Oh, hello, Officer Ford. Okay, great. We'll be right there." She closed the phone and looked Elliot, who had just finished the last of his sandwich. "Chief Gilson is back and needs to talk to us. Ready?"

"Yeah, but I want another of those hot chocolates. Ford was right, they really are great."

*****


	3. 3

Chapter 3

They arrived back at the police department quickly and greeted Officer Ford as they entered. Olivia stomped the snow from her boots and shook her head to release the snowflakes that had stuck to her head. "Officer Ford, I do believe that snow is coming down even heavier than before we left the first time. If we can get this resolved, are we going to be able to get out of town?"

"Sorry, Detective. They've now issued a storm warning and that snow that's coming down is only going to get heavier."

"Great," said Elliot sourly.

"Hello, Detectives," said a tall, thin man still wearing a heavy parka as he came through a rear door. "I'm Chief Gilson and I appreciate the two of you coming up here."

"Not a problem, Chief," said Olivia. "It's not often we get to go to the nice areas to pick up suspects. This is actually a treat."

"I'm glad you see it that way, Detective Benson, because we've got a major problem and when I tell you, I think the dark look on your partner's face is going to get worse."

Elliot immediately took a deep breath and spoke, "Sorry, Chief. Not meaning to disrespect the hospitality, but we were hoping to be on the road before now with Lake in the back of the car."

"No foul, Detective. Here is the problem. Our DA, Robeson, is in Boston for a meeting and doesn't want to release Lake to your custody until speaking with you in person. However, he isn't going to return until tomorrow."

"Sir, we are expected back at our station no later than tomorrow. Could we call him and get this cleared up now?" asked Olivia.

"I'm afraid not, Detective. He's now caught in the snowstorm that is heading our way. The town around here is going to be battening down the hatches. Didn't you two check out the weather report before leaving New York?"

"No. We got the call and our captain got us on the road. We grabbed overnight bags, but no winter gear," said Elliot. He turned to Olivia. "I don't want to get caught out on the road, Liv. If it's coming down that heavy, I'd rather wait until the plows go through tomorrow."

"I know. But I wanted you to get back," she said quietly. "I guess we'll just have to grab rooms for the night." Turning back to the chief, she continued, "Any recommendations, Chief? We'll need to grab a couple of rooms for the night, so wherever you might suggest would be great. Ford definitely didn't steer us wrong for dinner." She smiled at him. "The hot chocolate was fabulous."

"Tell you two what, I've got an even better idea and it won't cost a cent. Let me make a quick call and I'll be right back." Chief Gilson turned and strode back to his office.

Officer Ford watched him walk off. "Oh, you two may just get _very_ lucky this evening."

Elliot and Olivia both turned to him quickly. "Excuse me?" they both said with surprised looks on their faces.

"Chief Gilson. I'll bet he's calling his sister." A couple of minutes passed before Gilson returned.

"Detectives, you are in luck. Instead of a run-of-the-mill hotel, what would you say to a completely set up ski cabin about five miles from here? It's completely stocked, multiple rooms, and even a Jacuzzi in the master bath. Would that make up for the inconvenience?"

Elliot looked over at Olivia and grinned at the blissful look on her face at the mention of the Jacuzzi. "Chief, I think you have a deal. But be prepared to deal with Olivia being a squatter when someone demands that she unhand that Jacuzzi. Believe me, she can be quite forceful when she's being possessive."

"Elliot," Olivia exclaimed and reached over and swatted him on the shoulder. "For that, you can sleep out in the driveway in the car while I soak in that tub." Both Ford and Gilson laughed at the partners' antics.

"Well, that's part two. I'll be running you up there in the truck. Believe me, by morning, that poor Crown Vic will be going nowhere. I'll just come and pick you up in the morning."

"Chief, will your sister accept a voucher from NYPD?" asked Olivia.

"Don't worry about it, Detective. It's on the house. My sister owns the cabin, and after stocking it at the request of this week's renters, she got a call a while ago that they were unable to make it up here because they are canceling flights due to the weather. So the cabin is sitting empty until next week. Consider it yours until this snafu is cleared up. Okay?"

The partners looked at each and nodded. "Deal."

Olivia looked back to the Chief. "Just give us a second, okay?" she said as she pulled Elliot aside. "Get it over with now, okay?"

He looked at her confusedly. "What are you talking about?"

"Think hard. Think blonde."

"I'll just call from the cabin." He looked away quickly.

"Oh, no way. I am _not_ listening to the two of you argue while I try and enjoy that tub. Go to the men's room and take care of it."

Elliot gave her a tired and frustrated look but turned and walked towards the men's room.

"He'll be just a minute," Olivia said to Gilson.

"I'm guessing that there's an individual back home that will _not_ be pleased with this arrangement."

"Yeah, basically."

"Sorry that this has been a huge inconvenience for everyone, Detective Benson."

"Don't worry about it, Chief. We're used to snafus. Besides," she grinned at him, "That tub will cure all of _my_ ills."

"Just be sure to let your partner have a turn. He might need to be cured of _his_ ills."

Olivia grinned at the chief. "Then he can go play in the snow."

Gilson laughed at her expression. "Well, as I said, the cabin is stocked. There are parkas, skis and snowshoes. If he's still grouchy in the morning, send him for a hike before I come pick you two up."

Olivia's giggle was sharply cut off by the sight of her partner's morose expression as he returned from his phone call. "Can we go now?" he asked as he continued towards the door.

"Sure thing, Detective. Want to grab your bags and we'll hit the road. The cabin has a landline so don't be too surprised if your cell phones don't work. This place is pretty far back in the trees. Hope you don't mind me running the two of you up there. But I guess NYPD doesn't have too many 4x4s to send out for transport runs."

"No, they don't," Olivia said as she and Elliot went to grab their bags. "You okay?" she asked quietly.

"No," he answered. The look on his face almost made him seem lost. Maybe she could get him to talk up at the cabin. Elliot handed her bag to her, and they both walked back to the chief's SUV and loaded them in the back. Elliot opened up the back door and slid into the seat, looking over at Olivia. "Take the front," he said, nodding towards the passenger seat in front of him. She nodded and opened the front door and climbed in. Gilson started the engine and backed out of the lot.

Olivia was actually glad neither she nor Elliot was driving. The snow was coming down heavier than ever, and even the big 4x4 fishtailed a bit as they turned on to one of the side streets to head out of town. She sat back and wondered about Elliot's call to Kathy. From the look on his face, it didn't appear to have gone well.

Elliot, too, was thinking about the phone call. He leaned his head back on the seat and sighed deeply. He should have known this was coming. He closed his eyes and thought back to the call.

_"I know what you're doing, Elliot. This is just an excuse to be with Olivia."_

_"Yeah, right, Kathy. It sure is. I specifically called the Stowe PD and arranged for them to catch a perp that our unit had been looking for over three months. _Then_ I went ahead and just happened to schedule his pickup the night before this damned appointment. Wait, it gets better. I even got my captain in on this...seeing as he's the one who decided to send us. And on top of that, when I got here, I asked Mother Nature to drop a shitload of snow on this area so all the damn roads are closed! Would you please just grow up!"_

_"Don't tell me to grow up when you're the one who's going to be spending the night alone with his partner."_

_ He'd turned and leaned his head against the wall. "Exactly. In separate rooms on separate floors. Jeezus. Whatever happened to the word 'trust' in this marriage?"_

_"It flew out the window when I realized you spent more time with her than you did in our home or our bed."_

_"So, you don't trust me. Great. And here I've trusted you since the day we were married. Guess I've been looking at this marriage through rose-colored glasses all this time. What are you getting at with all this, Kathy? What do you want? There's no way I'm driving back down there tonight without doing my job, which due to crap on this end isn't likely to happen until at least tomorrow."_

_"Elliot, if you're not at the breakfast table tomorrow morning, don't ever bother coming home again."_

_"You aren't serious? Get real. There's a severe storm warning issued and they are already closing roads. What do you expect me to do? Flap my arms and fly?"_

_"If you wanted to be home, you would be."_

_"And if I tried, you could be identifying my body in a morgue after it's been cut out of the car. Take your pick."_

_"Take yours, Elliot."_

_He took a deep breath. "I'll be home in one piece when the suspect is delivered to __New York__. We'll discuss what you want to happen at that time. If you feel that strongly about a separation…" He sighed. "Then it'll be your choice."_

_"I'll have your clothes sent to the precinct. Or should I send them to Olivia's?"_

_Elliot sighed. "I'm tired of fighting with you, Kathy. You never hear what I say, so why do I keep trying? You do whatever you want. I'll make arrangements for an apartment or something and get my stuff if that's your decision." He trailed off. "I've got to go. The chief is waiting for me." He added softly, "Bye, Kathy," and closed the phone._

Elliot opened his eyes and watched the snow blowing outside the window. Now he only had to keep his partner from figuring out that his life had fallen apart. But, thinking about it, he wasn't too sure if could...or if he wanted to.

*****


	4. 4

Chapter 4

Never guessing that it could take nearly a half hour to travel less than five miles, Olivia was ultimately stunned when she saw the house as they crawled up the unplowed driveway. "Oh my God. Elliot, look at this place!" Her nose was literally pressed up against the glass as she looked on in wonder. She turned to her left and said, "Chief, this isn't a cabin, it's a mansion made of timber. Your _sister_ owns this?"

"Yep. Ginny and her husband built it about five years back. It's very popular on the rent lists. Usually it's never empty. You two have lucked out in one sense this weekend."

As they got closer, Olivia could see more details in the faint light given off by the security lamp behind the house and from the cheery light that shone through all of the large windows. From here it looked as if three sections had been set side-by-side on an offset so the first portion sat further forward than the last portion. Snow clung to everything, piled on the gabled roof sections with icicles clinging to the edge of the eaves and even laying in a thick line across the top of the railings that adorned the deck area. It looked like something out of a Lord & Taylor window at Christmas.

Chief Gilson parked the truck, and Olivia opened the door to climb out. She looked over her shoulder and saw that Elliot had not moved. "Elliot. Hey," she said as she opened the other door. He turned and looked at her. "You okay?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry. Just thinking," he said as he climbed out of the truck and walked to the back for their bags. Olivia looked on in concern. She'd have to talk to him, but maybe the morning would be better after they'd both gotten some sleep.

"Detective Benson, here are the keys. The heat is already on so you shouldn't have to wait to be warm."

"I don't see tracks, Chief. Is your sister close to here?" asked Olivia.

Gilson laughed. "No, Ginny is the geek of the family and refused to have to be at the beck and call of the necessities of this house. It's completely wired to a network and Ginny can turn on and off multiple areas from her home about three miles from here. All she did was contact the system and instruct the furnace to turn on. Wish I could depend on my email as much as she does that network. It's really amazing. That's why the lights are on and everything. There's logs already in the fireplace and a supply under the deck. Help yourselves to everything there. Especially the refrigerator. All that fresh stock needs to be used up, so enjoy." He shook hands with both detectives and turned and headed back towards the truck. "I'll give you a call in the morning when I know what's going on."

"Thanks, Chief. Drive safe," said Olivia. She turned to insert the key into the lock and opened the door. When they stepped through, Olivia just stopped and looked in awe.

"Wow," she breathed. "This is _beautiful_. I may never leave."

Elliot just grunted and turned to close and lock the door. He shrugged out of his overcoat and hung it in the front closet. Turning around, he saw Olivia still standing there in a daze as she looked around the entry area and into the great room of the cabin. Elliot had to admit that this was no average ski cabin. The chief's sister must cater to the higher end of renters. He tapped Olivia on the shoulder, and it brought her out of her daze as she turned to him with a questioning look on her face. "Your coat. Hand it here."

"Oh, thanks." Olivia took off her coat and handed it to him. Deciding to leave him alone for a bit, she said, "I'm going to try and find the master bedroom. See you later."

"Okay. Don't drown." He had to grin a bit at the scowl she sent him.

"Try and cheer up while I'm taking a bath, will you? And if you can't do that, at least make dinner." She smiled brightly at his less than amused look.

"Food again, Liv? Have you turned into a bottomless pit without my knowing it, or is this what snow does to you?"

"Just cook, Stabler."

"You may regret those words, partner."

"I'll take my chances," she said over her shoulder as she disappeared through a doorway.

Elliot saw her come back from that room to go up the staircase and snickered at her misdirection. He heard a "Shut up, Elliot" float over the stair rail as she disappeared into the second floor area. A moment later he also heard a faint feminine squeal. _Must of found the tub_, he mused. 

Wandering over to the kitchen, he gave a low whistle. Barring how the future played out, even he'd be willing to stay here forever. He wasn't a gourmet cook by any stretch of the imagination, but even he was very impressed with this kitchen. Dark granite covered the counters and the immense island that stood in the center of the kitchen. Dark stained maple formed the cabinets that offset the stainless appliances. Opening the refrigerator he took stock of the contents. _Wow_, he thought. _The chief wasn't kidding when he said this place was well-stocked. If we're stuck here tomorrow, I'm definitely grilling those steaks._ Pulling out the ingredients for omelets, he looked through the cabinets until he found a skillet and started up the range. Hopefully this would appease his partner.

It took a while, but eventually he found the plates and silverware and set out two settings onto the granite bar counter that came off the end of the island. Just as he set out the glasses, Olivia appeared in a pair of track pants and a wool pullover.

"El, you have _got_ to try that tub. I tell you, all the troubles will float away," she said as she sat down. "You _can_ cook. I'm impressed."

"Well, maybe I'll soak in that tub tomorrow morning or something. I would tonight, but somebody's been hogging it while I've been slaving away down here."

"Very funny. It's all yours now. And while you're in it, I'll try to resist the temptation to drown _you_."

"Eat first, Liv, or you'll be up scavenging around midnight. I'll just grab a shower in the other room. I'm assuming there _is_ a shower, right? I'm sure you've reconned the entire upstairs...especially the bathrooms."

"Yes, there is a shower. Enjoy it," Olivia said as she cut her omelet up.

Elliot looked at her thoughtfully while chewing a bite of his omelet. "I'm sorry, Liv," he said quietly, looking down at this plate.

"For what?" she asked around a mouthful of omelet. "You know, this is good."

"For being a prick today. And thanks. If we're still stuck here tomorrow, there are huge steaks in the 'fridge that have our names on them."

"Sounds delicious. And no problem. Go cool off."

"Thanks. Leave the dishes. I'll finish them after my shower if you want to get some sleep."

"You cooked, I'll clean," Olivia shooed him away.

He nodded, stood and took his plate and glass to the sink. On his way back he hesitated as he passed behind Olivia. Stopping, he leaned down quickly and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Thanks for putting up with me, Liv." He straightened, walked to the entryway, grabbed his bag and headed up the stairs.

Olivia smiled a little before she finished eating, then rinsed the plates and glasses and placed them in the dishwasher. Filling another glass with ice water from the refrigerator, she turned off the lights to the downstairs area and headed upstairs. She was looking forward to curling up in that bed in the master bedroom. She was surprised that Elliot hadn't commented on the little squeal she let out earlier when she saw this room. But she knew he wasn't quite all here. _Maybe I shouldn't have forced him to call Kathy_, she thought as she changed into her pajamas. Something bad had clearly happened on that phone call, and she had a feeling it was the ultimate in bad. But until Elliot said something, she'd just play along. The kiss on the cheek had surprised her, but she'd forced herself not to react too much. The main reaction being that she wanted to drag him up to this room with her. Sighing, she thought to herself, _don't go there_. That was the problem. Seeing this room, that thought came first and foremost. Waking up in the morning, wrapped up in those brawny arms. A fire burning happily in the small corner fireplace. _Quit it – that is definitely out of bounds_.

Looking around the room, she took stock of the interior. The bed was a high-ended sleigh bed made of darkly stained walnut and rounded metal form inserts. The duvet was a rich burgundy, hunter and navy combination of fabrics that looked warm without even touching it. A large highboy stood along one wall, and a series of walnut built-ins formed an area for an entertainment system that would make anyone drool. A walk-in closet lined one wall, and after peeking inside, she'd decided that it was almost as large as her bedroom in her apartment. _Maybe they could just leave me here_, she thought with a grin. She walked into the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face and studied the room. _Ah, my sanctuary_. The Jacuzzi tub really was wonderful and if she hadn't known that Elliot was cooking downstairs, she probably would have soaked for at least another hour.

Before going downstairs earlier, she had peeked into the room where Elliot would sleep and decided that as nice as it was, there was no way she was giving up the master. She'd grinned as she'd thought of what he'd say if he knew about the 60" television that was on the wall in her room. _Hmm, that could be very devious. Maybe when, and if, he's in a better mood._ An image of a them laying on the bed with a bowl of popcorn and a DVD playing on the screen had popped in her head.

Bringing her thoughts back to the present, she turned off the lights and crawled under the covers. Snuggling down on her side, she listened for other noises and could faintly hear the shower still running down the hall. Taking comfort in knowing that Elliot was here too, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and let the sound of the water send her to sleep.

Down the hall, Elliot was just finishing his shower. At this point, even he had begun to take notice of the interior of the room and the furnishings. The bath had a glassed-in shower stall that really sent his imagination into overdrive. The apparently unlimited hot water had relaxed him to a point where he stopped dwelling over his conversation with Kathy. At this point, all he could do was wait and see what she did in the morning. Granted, he never thought their marriage would fall apart like this, but he could see how Kathy had always had problems with his job, even before being partnered with Olivia. Olivia. Considering how decadently this room was decorated, he could only imagine what the master bedroom looked like. And then thinking of that, his mind slid over to the side that pictured his partner all wrapped up under the covers. _Or, maybe even in that tub_, he grinned at the thought. He grabbed a pair of sweats from his duffle and turned off the lights. He wasn't all that tired, just very relaxed from the shower. Looking at the 30" LCD television mounted on the wall, he thought about seeing what games were playing, but a huge yawn surprised him and he decided against it. Crawling under the covers, he laid back and sank into the flannel cotton that already felt warm. Sleep eventually caught up with him and he was soon out for the count.

*****

Bright sunlight shown through the windows as a very rude noise filtered in through his sleep. Reaching towards the noise, his hand landed on a phone.

" 'ello," he croaked as he pressed 'Talk'.

"Detective Stabler? It's Chief Gilson. How are you this morning? Did I wake you?"

Elliot rubbed his hand over his eyes to wipe the sleep from them. "Yeah. Couldn't find an alarm, Chief. Guess this really _is_ a vacation house."

The chief laughed on his end. "Look, I wanted to let you know that the DA called this morning. His car is stuck under about a foot of snow in Boston. He won't be here until late tonight."

"Ah, crap," Elliot said as he struggled to sit upright, the blankets sliding down his bare chest. The cool air hitting his skin definitely woke him up. "What time do you think, Chief? Or at this point should we just wait until tomorrow?"

"I think you should just wait until tomorrow. Look, enjoy the house. Use the equipment that's there and go skiing. Have a good time. Oh, and your captain called. Seems that one of you forgot to check in last night. He sounded pretty pissed after I assured him that you and Detective Benson were still in one piece. You might want to give him a call. Now."

"Ah, yes, sir. Sorry to get you chewed on, Chief. All we did was raid the 'fridge and fall asleep. Do you mind if I use the land line here to pay the piper?"

"No problem. I know the feeling of being a mother hen to the chicks."

"Right," Elliot said. "Bye, Chief." He hung up and immediately dialed Cragen's cell.

"Cragen," was the terse acknowledgement.

"Hey, 'Cap. It's Elliot." He cringed and waited. _Why couldn't Olivia have picked up the phone first? He wouldn't yell at her_.

"What the hell is the matter with you?"

"I'm sorry, Captain. We both forgot. I know that's no excuse, but yesterday was the day from hell."

"Oh, really? You should have tried having _my_ day. I had two detectives in court all day and another two going to Vermont to pick up a rapist. The two that _weren't_ getting along because one of them decided to act like an overbearing jackass and tell his partner that he wasn't going to _let_ her do something. I was having visions of you trying to keep Olivia from killing you."

Elliot actually chuckled at that thought. "I'm not laughing at you, sir. It's just that that image isn't too far from the truth. I don't even know if she's speaking to me yet today. Besides, it's not her that was being a problem. That didn't start until another phone call."

"Yeah, right. Before I forget, there are several boxes sitting up in the loft with your name on them."

"Ah, shit. She did it," he muttered. "She actually did it."

"Kathy, I assume?"

"Yes, sir. Could you just have someone stack them out of the way? I'm sorry that my personal life is being brought in to the shop, Captain. I didn't intend for all of this to happen."

"I stacked them back in the corner. Elliot, I'm sorry. No one ever intends for this to happen. Have you told any of this to Olivia?"

"No, sir. Haven't seen her yet this morning. I was a real prick yesterday and I'll bet she locks me outside today since the sun is out."

"Talk to her, Elliot. She's got her own guilt to deal with since she asked to send the two of you up there."

"What do you mean, 'Cap?" Elliot was thoroughly confused.

"After that debacle of a case yesterday and your tantrum in the office, she asked for the two of you to go on this run to get the two of you out of the office a bit. I didn't have anyone else so I couldn't say no. I'm sorry if all this brought everything to a head with Kathy."

"That's okay, Captain. I think it was getting pretty threadbare at home. Look, you should know that we probably won't be back until late tomorrow night."

"That's what I gathered after talking to Gilson. He said they're treating you both right after all this hassle. What'd he mean?"

"Oh. His sister owns a cabin, and instead of sending us to a hotel, he basically handed off the keys. And cabin is such an inadequate word for this place. I think I could stay here forever...any maybe I should since I don't have a home to return to."

"Sounds nice, Elliot. You know, you're more than welcome at my house. It's way too empty with Marge gone."

"Thanks, Don. I appreciate the offer. Right now my concern is my partner, considering what you told me. I knew for some reason she thought this trip was her fault and I know I should tell her about Kathy, but if I tell her—"

*****


	5. 5

Chapter 5

"Tell me about what?" Olivia said from where she lounged in the doorway. "Who's on the phone?"

Elliot looked up, startled to see his partner standing in the open doorway still in her pajamas and a bit disheveled. "Uh. Dad," he managed to stutter.

"Uh oh. How mad is he that we didn't get back last night?"

"A bit. Seems we didn't do something before going to be...a...to sleep." The words got garbled in his brain as he looked at her. _Damn, she's even beautiful when first waking up._ He could hear Cragen chuckling in his ear and that got him back on track. "Liv, neither of us called the Captain. We got busted."

"Sorry, 'Cap," said Olivia loudly. She turned to walk away. "I'm going to make breakfast. Get your ass out of bed. It's almost 9:30."

"Uh oh, 'Cap. I think I have a major problem. Olivia wants to cook."

The now standard "Shut up, Elliot" could be heard clearly by both Elliot and Cragen. "Better get this all cleared up, Elliot. She just might poison you and we'll never know if it was intentional or not."

Elliot chuckled. "Will do, Captain. Our cells are dead up here, but I think since we're stuck here I'm going to convince Olivia to do some cross-country skiing. This place is that well-stocked."

"Just don't get injured or turn your back on her. And talk. I don't want all this stress on you two when you return with Lake tomorrow."

"Yes, sir. Talk with you later. I better get downstairs before I smell smoke."

"Call if you need anything, Elliot."

"Thanks, Captain." Elliot leaned over and hung up the phone. Throwing back the covers he walked to the bathroom to relieve himself and brush his teeth. _It's__ Saturday so to hell with shaving. God knows Liv has seen me look worse_, he thought. Considering that Olivia had gone downstairs in her pajamas, he just pulled on a tank shirt and padded down the steps in bare feet.

He stopped when he came off the last step and made the turn. Hanging on to the newel post, he stood and watched what he thought was a beautiful sight. His partner had obviously found the controls to the sound system in the house and had selected a soft, jazzy instrumental as an accompaniment to making breakfast. And from what he could see, it looked like pancakes.

"Elliot," Olivia called without turning around. "Coffee's about ready if you want some. You won't believe it but there's an entire selection of fine coffees." She turned to look at him where he still stood, looking stunned, and smiled. "El-li-ot," said in a singsong type of voice. "There is French Roast brewing if you'd care to walk that ass of yours over here."

"Huh," he said, coming out of his stupor. "Oh, yeah. So, partner, you're cooking and I don't see a recipe anywhere. Don't tell me you actually do cook," he teased slightly.

"Why do you guys always pick on me about cooking? Why wouldn't I know how to cook? I'm single and I have to eat. Wouldn't that make you think that I could actually cook? Besides, these are just pancakes. That recipe is easy. I make up a batch of these and then freeze them. Makes breakfast easy when I want pancakes." She shrugged at his seemingly mystified look. "Sheesh, Elliot, snap out of it. I am _not_ a Martian. Here." She shoved a mug of coffee into his hand. "You obviously need this more than I do." Olivia turned back to the griddle she was heating. "Were you afraid of your razor this morning?" she questioned as she lightly sprinkled water on the griddle to check its readiness. "I'm guessing that Chief Gilson should be here in an hour or so, so you better plan on making friends with it soon."

Hearing Gilson's name snapped him out of his very inappropriate daydream. _I have _got_ to stop this or I will drive myself insane._ "Liv, that's what the phone call was about. Gilson called before I spoke to Cragen. The DA is stuck in Boston. He'll be in by late tonight, but we're here for the day."

Olivia turned around to look at him as he lounged against the edge of the granite counter. "Say what? Not until tonight? Crap, Elliot. What are you going to do?"

"Do? I'm planning on having breakfast with you, and then I thought we could go find those skis."

She smirked at him. "First of all, I'm guessing you haven't looked out that really big bank of windows over there." He looked over his shoulder and his expression dropped. The snow was still coming down heavily. Sighing, he turned back to Olivia. "And secondly?" he asked.

"Secondly. What about Kathy? You need to call her and let her know what's going on. She's going to go off her rocker at you." She turned back to the stove and lifted off the four pancakes she'd previously flipped. Pouring out more batter, she turned back around to ask Elliot again because he had not responded to her question. But he was gone, and only the coffee mug remained. 

Looking across the counter towards the great room, she saw him standing at the window bank looking out at the snow. Figuring that she must have touched a nerve, she decided to finish off the pancakes. She covered the completed ones with a lid to keep them warm and watched the next batch. After flipping them, she grabbed two plates out of the cabinet and placed them on the mats at the end of the counter. Searching through the refrigerator, she smiled when she happened across a container of blueberries. While she didn't care for them, she knew that Elliot loved them, as he had the tendency to bring a small container of them when they were on long stakeouts. Taking the last of the pancake batter and forming four more thick flapjacks, she filled the centers of them with the majority of the small blueberries.

Setting out glasses of orange juice, she looked up to check on Elliot and found him in the same spot but now leaning his forehead against the glass with his arms outstretched to brace against the frames. Sighing, she turned back to the stove to lift off the last pancakes. After placing them under the cover with the rest, she took a deep breath and prepared for battle. _Wish we could have at least eaten first_, she mused as she quietly headed into the great room. Coming up on Elliot's left side, she leaned her shoulder against the next window and just looked at him. Anger, despair, and what appeared to be hopelessness all battled for an area of his face. He wouldn't look at her; just kept his eyes forward as if something out on the deck or even a thousand yards further had his deep attention. Olivia guessed that something must have happened during one of the two phone calls home that she knew of from the day before. Gathering her own courage, she stepped into the fray. "Talk to me, Elliot," she said quietly. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye but quickly returned his gaze to the outside. "Listen, being up here is entirely my fault. I'm guessing that Kathy is even more upset after the second call yesterday. Let me talk to her and apologize to her. And I'm sorry I sprung this on you at the last minute."

Letting out the breath he had unintentionally been holding, Elliot said, "None of this is your fault, Liv. Remember that, okay?" Olivia just nodded. He looked over at her. "Kathy told me not to bother coming home today."

Olivia's sharp intake of air sounded her complete surprise. "El—"

"Don't," he stopped her. "It is _not_ your fault. Cragen told me how you asked for the two of us to come up here. That was you being my partner. If you had acted yesterday like I had, don't you think I would have done the same thing?"

She crossed her arms and looked down. "Probably. But you would have dragged all of the crap I was feeling out of me before we left so we could have kind of enjoyed this little jaunt." She stopped and looked up at him. "But that's not the point, El. I don't have a husband at home that is frustrated with my job or is uncomfortable with my partner."

"Exactly. That part is _not_ your problem. You did what you thought best to help your partner. Me being the dumber of us at that time insulted you. Not an intentional insult, but one due to my being protective of my partner." He dropped his arms and stood straight at the window. Turning to mirror her stance, right shoulder on the window, he reached out and placed his large hand on her shoulder. His thumb lightly traced the outline of her pulse, which he could see beating strongly. "Come here," he said quietly, tugging her to him gently so he could put an arm around her and they could both look out the window. She slipped an arm around his waist as he said, "Kathy also followed through on a promise of hers from the call last night. She boxed up all my clothes and sent them to the station." Olivia startled and tried to back out from under his arm, but he held fast. "Don't," he said. 

Olivia took a deep breath and turned into him, wrapping her other arm around his waist to complete the hug. "I'm sorry," she whispered into his shoulder. "What are you going to do?"

"Don't know, Liv. My biggest concern is the kids. I wonder what she told them when she had the boxes hauled out. Maureen is tutoring today so I was thinking about calling her a bit later. As for Kathy, there's nothing I can do from here. Things haven't been good lately and even the counseling sessions at the church haven't helped us pull together as much as either of us thought they would." Olivia flinched at the mention of counseling; she didn't know that they'd been going to something like that. Now she felt even worse. Elliot hugged her tightly and said, "Will you cut it out? Nothing in my failed marriage has ever been your fault and I will not let you think otherwise."

Looking down at her, he could see a pair of deep brown eyes beginning to tear up. "Hey, none of that. You don't see me being a water factory yet, do you?" He used a thumb to gently remove the tears and stroke over the rise of her cheek.

"I can't help but feel that I'm part of the cause behind this, Elliot," she said.

"Nope. Believe me, I've been quite capable of screwing this up all on my own." He chuckled and tipped her chin up to look straight at her. "Are you _sure_ you're not Catholic? You've got this automatic guilt syndrome down pat. I could always recommend you to my parish if you're interested. Father Michael would be overjoyed at the prospect of such an easily guilt-ridden parishioner."

"No. No thank you. I had enough of that at college. You forget, Siena is Catholic-sponsored." She turned her face back into his shoulder and took in his natural body scent. As wrong as it was to think about this, she felt as if she could stand there forever. They stood quietly for a couple of minutes, and then they both heard the noise. Again, it rumbled. Chuckling, they both looked up at each other. "Uh oh," laughed Elliot. "I don't know if that was you or me."

Deciding that enough on this subject had been covered for the time being, she smiled at him and said, "I think it was both of us. Come on, let me finish the bacon and we can reheat the pancakes and eat. There's even a treat under that plate cover for you."

"Hmm, wonder what that could be," said Elliot, keeping one arm around her waist when they turned from the windows and walked back to the kitchen. Olivia restarted the flame under the griddle section and watched Elliot peek under the plate cover. "Blueberries!" he exclaimed. "Oh, this is great! Thanks. I know you don't like them."

"Exactly," she said as she started laying the bacon on the griddle and cracking three eggs next to the strips. "Better you having them than I. I'm going to splurge as it is with all this grease. You'll probably just find me crashed on the couch in front of the fire for the rest of the day."

"Whatever you want to do, Liv. I'm game. If it ever quits snowing, though, I'd like to find those skis and see if they have any gear that'll fit us."

"Okay. I checked the weather channel and it should be dying off mid-afternoon. Would you plate those pancakes and microwave them for a minute? Then the eggs and bacon will be ready and we'll be set. Do you want more coffee?"

"Yeah. Stay put, I've got it," he said after popping the plate into the microwave. He grabbed both of their mugs and refilled them. Setting them down at the place settings, he walked back to the refrigerator and rummaged around until he located the maple syrup. "Any idea where a small container would be to warm this up?" he asked as he held up the syrup bottle.

She turned around and pointed to one of the cabinets. "Check in there above the glasses. I think I saw a small glass pitcher that would work." Taking the first plate from the microwave, she dished up the pancakes and set them on the placemats. Plating the eggs and bacon, she moved everything else to the counter. Over her shoulder she saw Elliot remove the syrup from the microwave and walk to the counter.

"I guess breakfast is served. Help yourself," she said as she slid into the chair. Elliot sat down and grabbed the stereo remote. "Music on or off?" he asked. 

"On. Just turn it down a bit."

Having made the unintentional decision to stay away from the subject of his marriage for the time being, idle chitchat kept them busy in between bites. Subjects ranged from the last time either one of them had been skiing—downhill or cross-country—to other open cases that they were still investigating. Elliot told Olivia of his phone call with Cragen and that they weren't in too much trouble. He'd just been concerned because it was unlike them to forget to check in. They chuckled over Cragen's comment about her intentionally or unintentionally poisoning Elliot. Olivia decided that maybe she should do some baking and just leave the goods on the middle of Cragen's desk. That set Elliot off into laughter as he pictured their captain totally confused and slightly cautious as he checked out the contents. After breakfast, they both cleaned up the little mess that had been made while making breakfast and set another pot of coffee to brew.

"Elliot, I'm going to go have a shower and get changed. What are your plans...besides locating a razor?" She grinned at him.

"No. It's Saturday. I am _not _shaving. A shower and then I thought I'd poke around the house a bit. My room has a large LCD screen so I'm guessing there's another around here somewhere. That can't be the only television in the house."

"Television? There's a large one in the master with plenty of DVDs, but I'm guessing you're looking for ESPN or something." They both stood and walked to the stairs, continuing to talk.

"Hmmm. An all sports day. There's a thought." _Not a bad idea. Not like I ever really get to do that at home_. And then thought hit him. _And never will._ Olivia was on the fifth riser before she realized that Elliot wasn't behind her. Looking back at him, she saw that the haunted look had returned to his face and that he had stopped on the bottom step. Walking back down the few steps she had gained, she stood in front of him, literally bringing them eye to eye.

_I'm not going to let him go there_, she thought. "Elliot," she said softly as she raised her left hand to his cheek. He startled and immediately tried to hide his expression. "Don't," she said as she continued to cup his cheek, her thumb moving over the morning stubble. "Don't hide from me. Whatever you need to get through this, I'm here. There are no big decisions to be made today. Consider us escaped. This is our day to do what we want. Lounge around, ski, talk...whatever. Just don't hide from me. Okay?" He nodded. With that she leaned forward and returned his kiss on the cheek from the previous night. "Tell you what," she grinned. "Skip the razor; I kind of like this." She dropped her hand from his cheek and reached for his hand, turning at the same time and walking back up the stairs.

Elliot finally recovered as they reached the landing. "I didn't shave because I figured it would annoy you, Liv."

She grinned cheekily as she let go of his hand and patted him on the cheek. "I know, El. Ever heard of reverse psychology?" She turned on her heel and walked to her room without looking back, knowing that he'd still be standing there with a small grin on his face. _That's better_, she thought. _We need to laugh more often. I don't care how bad the situation is._

*****


	6. 6

Chapter 6

About an hour later, Olivia was back downstairs, wrapped up in afghan with a cup of coffee steaming beside her and her nose buried in a book. She had wandered down from the upstairs and did a bit of nosing around on her own. Finding a small library nook tucked at the back of one of the wings, she made her selection and headed for the great room. She detoured through the kitchen to pour another cup of coffee and made the decision to get the fireplace going. 

A nice fire was going a few minutes later, and that brought an extra warmth and glow to the good sized room. She glanced out the window, saw the snow still falling, and hoped that it would eventually stop; because finding those skis and going for a time did sound like fun, and because it would get Elliot out of the house and his mind on something else. 

Olivia was pretty worried about him. She knew that what Kathy must have said to him had pretty much knocked his feet out from under him and at this point he was pretty unsteady. That's why she had kissed his cheek earlier, to let him know that she was there. _Liar_, the little devil's advocate in her said. _You've wanted to kiss him for a long time. Admit it._ Sighing, she had to begrudgingly admit that was true, too. That was a thought that usually lived in one of the tiny back corners of her mind. Unfortunately, it tried to make an appearance at least once a week, usually when they were at the office and Elliot was being Elliot – meaning, cute and sexy as all get out. The pen chewing, the eyes following her around the office, and yes, even the over-protectiveness all combined to make him almost irresistible. Thinking about that irresistibility, she grinned to herself as she wondered why he and Kathy only had four kids. God knows, if he was hers, she'd probably just leave him tied to the bed. The heat rose in her cheeks at that thought, and she knew it was all due to that little devil's advocate so she beat it back with a mental stick.

"Is the book that good that you are grinning like a fool?" whispered a husky voice in her ear. Startled, she turned her head and was staring straight into the eyes of the subject of her previous musing. _Uh oh_, she thought. _Busted_. Elliot was crouched behind the couch looking at her with one of those shit-eating grins that were a specialty in his repertoire of smiles.

"Just thinking about something," she answered him nonchalantly.

"Hmm. Must have been _really_ something to create that blush," he said as he reached out a finger and traced it down her cheek. "What was it? The sex scene in that bodice-ripper you're hiding in your lap?"

Olivia's eyes lit up in amusement. "Elliot Stabler, you brat. I do _not _read 'bodice-rippers.'"

"Oh please, Liv. I've seen the stash on your bottom bookshelf at home. Give it up. You like reading smut. Which, with our jobs, proves that you haven't lost your humanity." Elliot stood and walked into the kitchen for a cup of coffee.

"Well, for your information, I do not read bodice-rippers. I read modern romance novels. Matter of fact, this one is a mystery."

"Hmm. A _romance_ novel with a mystery. Probably some petite little thing just waiting for the big strong guy to come along and sweep her off her feet," he said.

"Hah! I'll have you know this one is about a female police officer who falls for..." She trailed off, finally realizing what she was about to say and that he was baiting her...and succeeding. _Can't say that...Can't say that...Can't say that..._

"Falls for who, Liv?" said Elliot innocently, breaking through her mental rant.

"Um...well...her...a...a lawyer. That's who. A tall, dark, devastatingly handsome lawyer that gets involved in one of her cases." _Phew. That was close_, she thought.

"Hmm. Conflict of interest. That'd cause major problems. What's her partner think about that?" By that time, Elliot had scooted her feet out of the way and taken over the other end of the couch. Sipping his coffee, he looked at her and then reached to the floor and picked up one of the sports magazines he'd found in the same library area.

"Her partner? Well, he...oh, give it a rest, Elliot. It's just a book." She snapped her eyes back down to the book to read some more but didn't miss that same grin appearing on his face again. "Cut it out," she said as she gave him a mild kick in the side of the leg.

He just snickered but continued to read. All was quiet for the next hour or so. Elliot had read through three of the magazines from his little stack. Glancing up at his partner at the other end of the couch, he saw that she was sound asleep with her head tipped slightly to the side against the back of the couch, her book lax in her hand. Leaning forward, he slowly reached out and gently removed the book from her loose grasp. Curiosity got the better of him as he remembered Olivia's blush as she had read from the book earlier. Flipping it over to the read the back, a slow, almost evil grin appeared. _Lawyer, my ass,_ he thought gleefully. _The heroine fell for her _partner. _Hmmm._ Looking up at her once again, it was almost as if he'd slipped on a pair of sunglasses as he now saw her in a slightly different light. Beautiful, as always, but now surrounded by other possibilities. Frowning slightly, he leaned forward again and set the now closed book in her lap.

Slipping out from under the other afghan, he made his way over to the kitchen to get another cup of coffee. With Kathy's actions back home, he knew he was going to have to come to a decision. That meant talking with his children. It wasn't that he didn't love his wife, but he was finally realizing that sometimes the song was right; love just wasn't enough. Trying to stay quiet so Olivia could sleep, he opened the refrigerator and rummaged quietly. He knew he wanted to grill those steaks for dinner that evening, so to keep himself busy for a while before calling Maureen, he decided to at least make up the marinade so that the steaks would be ready after they went skiing. Looking out the great room windows, he saw that the snow was finally beginning to slow. Maybe they could go in a couple of hours. Minutes passed as he put the marinade ingredients into a zipped bag and mixed them up. Adding the steaks, he placed everything back into the refrigerator and cleaned up his little mess. A glance over at the couch told him that Olivia was still napping. _If this little jaunt has done nothing else, at least we've gotten caught up on our sleep_. Setting the towel back down, he grabbed his coffee mug and headed for the stairs. He'd rather use the phone in his room to talk to Maureen so that he wouldn't disturb Olivia.

After a stop in the bathroom, Elliot grabbed the phone and propped his back against the pillows at the headboard. Taking a sip of the coffee, he quickly dialed his daughter's cell.

"Hi, Dad," came Maureen's immediate greeting.

"Hey, baby girl. How'd you know it was me? I'm not on my cell."

"I'm a daughter of a detective," she laughed. "Vermont area code, Pops."

Elliot chuckled dryly, "That's my girl."

"Dad, are you okay?"

"Yeah, Maureen. Still stuck in snow country."

"No, that's not what I meant."

He sighed. "So, Mom talked to you?"

"No. The twins called me in a panic because she was storming around the house throwing your clothes in boxes last night. This is it, isn't it?"

"I'm sorry, Maureen," said Elliot quietly as he scrubbed a hand down his face in exasperation.

"Don't be sorry, Dad. This has been coming and I think you know it. Guess the counseling wasn't much help, huh?"

"Guess not. I'm sorry to disappoint you kids by failing at this."

"Daddy," she said reproachfully. "You haven't failed. I may only be 19, but I know it takes two to make a marriage work. You've been doing your part by financially supporting a family of six. Mom? Well, Mom has felt saddled, I think. You get the exciting life away from home and that bothers her." She was silent for a moment. "But I think you can guess her biggest beef, can't you?"

Elliot sighed. He knew his daughter was an adult, but it was still slightly odd to be having such a conversation with her. But thinking about it, he was proud to actually see how level-headed his eldest child had become. He spoke up, "I'm assuming you mean the fact that my daily work partner is a woman?"

"Yeah, and a gorgeous one at that. It's simple. Mom's jealous. She sees Olivia as if _she's_ the one taking you away from the family and not your job in general."

"Is that how you kids see it?"

"Nope. Not even close, Dad. Olivia's always been a major part of our lives as far as the twins are concerned since they were so young when you partnered with her. I think they tend to treat her as if she were their aunt. Kathleen looks up to her as a woman who has survived and made her own space by working in a typically male job. When we've talked, she's mentioned that she's most impressed by the respect Olivia holds within the squad. She's paid attention the times she's been in to see you. I wouldn't be surprised if after college she decides to apply to the Academy. I could easily see her following in Olivia's footsteps. That's how much respect she has for her."

"As impressed as I am with your application of your psychology courses, Maureen, I have to ask what your thoughts are." He held his breath, beginning to really realize how much his daughter's opinion meant to him.

"Well, I like her for all the reasons the other kids do, plus the fact that she protects your back and sends you home safe to us when she can." Back in New York, Maureen took a deep breath and tried to decide if she should continue, knowing that what she said next would be a complete surprise to her father. "But most of all, I like her because my Dad loves her." Complete silence sat on the phone line. "Dad?"

"What did you just say?" asked Elliot as the breath literally hissed out of him and he slumped back against the headboard.

"You heard me, Daddy. And if you think about it, you'll know I'm right."

"Maureen, I love your mother. I know we've been going through problems, but that doesn't mean that I've lost my love for her."

"No, you're right. But taking those classes of mine into account, I think that over the long years of your marriage that that love has changed. Barring the psychobabble, isn't there a line of a book or a song that basically says that it's your heart and not your head that chooses whom you love? Your head tells you that you can only love Mom when at the same time your heart is committing mutiny and falling for Olivia. And all this without your head knowing it."

Elliot sat stunned and silent. He was pretty much incapable of even speaking to his daughter because his head was just spinning around. He knew he found Olivia attractive, as did nearly all breathing males in the precinct. But was Maureen right? _Was_ it possible that he could be in love with her? His eyebrows dipped and he eyes turned steely as if he was staring at a suspect that he knew was lying. He was going to have to do some serious thinking on this. Realizing that he'd been ignoring his daughter, he spoke up, "I'm sorry, Maureen. You've really thrown me for a loop."

"I know. I debated on whether or not to say anything, but decided that it was only right for you to know what I thought. And just so you don't think you're alone, I'm pretty sure those feelings would be reciprocated, Dad."

"When did you get so smart, young lady?" he jested, trying to bring a bit of levity back into the conversation.

"Always have been. After all, I _am_ my father's daughter."

Elliot laughed heartily. "There is also much of your mother in you, baby girl. Your compassion and your temper come to mind first."

"Don't change the subject, Dad. One last thing. I will tell you that I spoke to Mom this morning and she told me that she's already contacted her lawyer to draw up papers. I don't think she's going to be very willing to look at any reconciliation."

"That doesn't really surprise me, Maureen."

"I didn't think it would. I then called Kathleen since I knew she was going to take the twins to the library this morning from when I spoke to them last night. If it comes down to custody, Kathleen definitely wants to be with you, but the twins are split right now; Dickie wants to be with you and Lizzie with Mom, but Lizzie will soon change her tune as she always does. So be prepared for Mom to really be pissed off when that comes out."

"Guess I better start apartment hunting."

"Well, you could probably stay with Olivia for a bit, Dad. You've crashed there during cases before."

"Oh, that'd go over wonderfully, Maureen. Mom's suggestion last night was that she would just forward my clothes to her apartment. No, not a good idea. I will probably take Captain Cragen up on his offer and stay at his house."

"Whatever you decide is best, Dad. But whatever you do, talk to Olivia about everything. Don't leave her out of the loop or you will hurt her, too. Since you're still stuck up in Vermont and won't be bothered, may I suggest talking to her while you're up there? And don't forget about what I've said. It's okay to look towards the future. After all, the future is always just one second ahead."

A soft sigh left his chest as he said, "You're joining the FBI, aren't you? With all this psychology and philosophy, I just know they're going to be trying to recruit you."

Maureen's laugh merrily moved through the phone. "How did you know I've been talking with Dr. Huang, Dad? I'm finding it very interesting and I've already chosen my subjects for my finals. They just don't know it yet."

Hearing the sneaky amusement in her voice he couldn't resist asking, "And who might that be? A couple of people in your class? Maybe a professor?"

"Nope, not even close. I intend to rope Munch and Fin into this. Can you think of any better two to make the subject of a paper? I _will_ succeed." 

Elliot began laughing loudly. He just _had_ to watch this when she came to the office. "I have no doubt that you will, Maureen. Just let me know when you want to ask them because Liv and I are going to want front row seats for the show."

"I will. I'm glad to hear you laugh, Dad. On that note, I've got to go. Don't worry about everything. It will work out. All of us love you very much and will support anything you choose. Enjoy the snow. And talk to Olivia! Bye! Love you."

"Love you, too, baby girl. I'll talk to you when I get back in the city. Be careful." With that, they both hung up.

He sat back with the phone sitting in his lap. He had a lot of thinking to do and being around Olivia was going to hamper that thinking. First he needed to see if she was still sleeping. If she was he'd leave a note. He had to get out of the house. Glancing out the window he saw that the snow had finally tapered off to a minor flurry activity. _Perfect_. He grabbed another t-shirt, slipped on a sweatshirt and headed downstairs.

*****


	7. 7

Chapter 7

Elliot peeked over the top of the couch and noted that Olivia still slept. He hadn't been on the phone all that long so her still sleeping didn't surprise him. He wanted to take her skiing but right now he just had to get out of the house to think. Walking over to the kitchen he found a tablet and pen in a drawer and wrote a note. He tore the paper off the tablet, folded it and went back to the couch, leaning down to set it on the coffee table. Hesitating a moment, he turned and actually sat on the table. Propping his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together around the note, he leaned his chin against his hands and just looked at Olivia as she slept.

_Maybe Maureen is right. I've definitely got a lot to think about_, he mused. On the couch, Olivia shifted and turned to face the back of the couch more fully in her sleep. That brought Elliot out of his thoughts and he leaned forward to pull up the afghan that had slipped down as she shifted. "Elliot--" she mumbled and he smiled. He rose and propped the note on the coffee table. Taking a step, he bent over and softly kissed the top of her head and then walked to the mudroom.

Inside the spacious and warm storage area he found a rack of different sizes of ski pants, jackets and boots. Glad that he'd left his sweats on since he didn't have any thermals, he searched through the pants until he found a pair that would fit reasonably well. Walking to the ski rack he chose what he hoped were an appropriate pair of backcountry skis. It'd been awhile and he was sort of unsure of the equation anymore. Something about measuring from wrist to ground. On the off chance that Olivia would ski too when she awoke he went ahead and set aside a pair for her also. Checking the boots next he eventually found a pair that fit well and he suited up. Grabbing a stocking cap, goggles and gloves, he picked up the skis and poles and the full camelbak he had pulled from the small refrigerator under the shelf and slipped out the door to the garage.

Setting down the skis and sliding his boots one at a time into the bindings, he fixed his goggles and pushed off towards the front of the house. There was a tree line that he intended to follow for the time being. He knew that you should always ski with a buddy, but he needed this time to think about his future. Breaking a path was hard work and he soon got into a slow, steady rhythm. The quiet out here was amazing; all he could hear were the birds, his skis on the snow and his breathing. Blocking everything else out of his mind other than his pace for a while, he concentrated on his breathing.

About fifteen minutes later, he slowed down. _That's what I get for being a Detective_, he thought as he skied along. _I'm out of shape because I'm not out on the street. Another fifteen minutes and my lungs will mutiny._ He slowed his pace down even more. He wasn't sure why he was even in a hurry. It wasn't like he had a particular destination in mind. All he wanted to do was clear his head and think. But, knowing he had decisions to make made him _not_ want to think because those same decisions were going to change a lot of things in his life. _First of all, lay out the all the issues you know of. One. Maureen said that Kathy has already contacted her lawyer. Two. Am I going to try and talk her out of it. Three. The kids want to stay with me which means contesting Kathy for their custody. And four. Is Maureen right and I'm in love with Olivia._ His mind skittered quickly away from that last one. Deal with the other three first because that last one would be a ball-buster.

At this point, he understood that he loved his wife, but was also beginning to wonder if it was a love out of habit and necessity. They'd been together nearly 20 years and now almost everything seemed to be done out of habit. Maybe they truly hadn't been in love when they'd first married. He thought they had been. Hell, they had three more children after Maureen so it couldn't have just been the sex. But even that had slowed down in the past couple of years and obviously not just because they'd gotten older. He used to think they'd take every advantage of the empty house when the kids were elsewhere. He thought as he glided along. How long had it been? He almost stopped when he realized that it had been nearly two, almost three months since he and Kathy had made love. _Funny_, he mused. _I'm surprised I'd have forgotten something like that. Maybe it's just been my schedule._ He thought back over the past cases of those months and came to an alarming yet stunning conclusion. Yes, there'd been some nasty caseloads during that time, but even during the worst of those he didn't stay in the crib. He cringed. He'd crashed at Olivia's. _Oh, boy_, he thought. _Guess I'm going to deal with question four sooner than I thought._

Looking ahead to the path he was cutting, he saw a large set of boulders at the edge of what he thought was a lake. Catching a glimpse of water through the trees he skied along the edge until coming along side of them. This looked to be a good place to take a break. He glanced at his watch and realized that he'd been gone for nearly 45 minutes. Another 45 minutes back and his legs would be ready to disown him. Maybe Liv would let him steal the Jacuzzi for the evening. He slid to a stop and used a pole to punch down on the latch to the one ski and kicked back his boot to release it. He did the same to the other and then planted both poles. Taking another sip from the camelbak, he walked around for a bit before walking around the boulders and finding a perfect one to sit on. _Decision time_, he thought and sighed deeply. The still wilderness surrounding him was a perfect backdrop to the brooding man sitting propped up on the top of a large rock.

*****

A log cracking in the fireplace woke Olivia. Rolling to her back, she took a deep breath and reached her arms behind her head to stretch. Blinking her eyes to get rid of the sleepy feeling, she rolled over to her right side and stared at the fire. Seeing that Elliot was no longer at the other end of the couch, she figured that she'd slept much longer than she intended. Not, of course, that she had intended to fall asleep in the first place. It's just that she'd been so contented. It was warm due to the fire and being tucked under an afghan, she'd been able to do some reading and Elliot was there. She closed her eyes and listened. Not hearing anything, she rose to a sitting position and pushed off her cover. There in front of her on the table was a folded note with her name on it. She leaned forward and picked it up to read:

2:15

Hey, Sleeping Beauty—

Called Maureen. Don't worry.

I'm out thinking... 

Look for the breadcrumbs.

--E

_Answers that question_, she thought. Glancing up at the clock she saw that he'd only been gone about 30 minutes. She stood and walked to the large window and looked out. Over by the tree line she could make out the faint trail left by skis. After making a short stop in the powder room, she opened the door to the mudroom and smiled. There sat a pair of skis. Picking through the ski pants, jackets and boots, she was soon suited up and ready to go. Readjusting the other camelbak that Elliot had left out for her and a small bag of trailmix that she found in another cupboard, she grabbed the skis and headed outside.

Guessing that it probably wouldn't take all that long to catch up with Elliot since she was using his trail, she took a few minutes to stretch her leg muscles. As much as she was in love with that Jacuzzi upstairs, she wanted to avoid knotting herself up while on the skis. She couldn't even count how many years it had been since she'd been on a set of skis. Probably college, and that had been downhill. Grabbing her poles, she kicked into the bindings and pushed off after readjusting her stocking cap.

As she headed for the trees, a flock of birds broke out of the cover. Moving along she also saw animal tracks. Not that she could really identify them, but she thought they might be from rabbits. Hearing the chattering of another bird she looked up and saw a couple of bright red male cardinals sitting high on a branch as she passed underneath. _Definitely don't see this everyday in New York_, she thought. _It's so quiet._ Moving through Elliot's tracks made her way easy going, so after many minutes she came over a rise and caught a glimpse of a lake on her left. Staying in the trail, she lifted her poles and slid down over the rise. Passing a stand of trees she came around to see a group of rocks and a pair of bright yellow skis sitting in the snow. Figuring that Elliot was nearby, she came to a stop and stepped from the skis. Stretching her arms high above her head, she took a deep breath and let out the tension that had gathered in her shoulders. So far, her legs didn't feel too bad. 

Walking around the edge of the rocks, she found her partner staring off over the lake. Unnoticed by him, she took stock of his expression. Knees drawn up with his arms looped around them. The expression on his face was almost haunted, and she seriously thought about turning around, grabbing her skis and returning to the house so as not to disturb him. But then she thought about his note. He wanted her to follow. Well, she was here, might as well announce herself.

Stepping forward, her boots crunched on the snow and Elliot's head jerked around in surprise. "Hey, partner," she said as she walked up to him.

He grinned slightly. "About time, Sleeping Beauty," he teased.

"I'll have you know I made good time. Thanks to you for breaking the trail." Sobering, she asked, "How are you doing?"

"Okay. Just thinking and making some decisions. Want to sit?" He brushed off the rest of the rock next to him and put out a hand to her.

She took the offered hand and levered herself up to sit next to him. "If you open the zipper compartment on the camelbak, I brought a treat," she said, leaning forward.

Elliot reached around her to unzip the pouch and pulled out the bag of trailmix. Sitting back, he held out the bag. "I should have known," he smiled.

"What?" she asked as she opened the bag and took a few pieces. Elliot did the same.

"Only you could find a bunch of trailmix that is nearly 50% chocolate."

"Hey! It's a well-proven fact that chocolate cures all ills. At least in the world of women it does," she grinned at him as she ate the chocolate pieces.

Elliot looked down at the bag. "Maybe you should have found one that was complete chocolate then for me."

"Well, there was a bag of M&Ms in there, but I'm hoarding those for in front of the fire tonight after dinner. I'm willing to share, though. Plus, I'm not too sure if the chocolate theory works for guys." She leaned over and nudged him with her shoulder. "I'm pretty sure your tactics require beating the crap out of something."

He leaned back into her. "Don't knock it, Liv. I've seen you on some days when the chocolate doesn't work and you look like you're ready to beat the crap out of _me_."

Her clear laugh rang out. "Elliot, that happens at least once a week. Twice, if Munch is being a pain in the ass." He chuckled and took some more trailmix.

"Thanks for leaving the note, Elliot. I know you needed time to yourself and probably weren't thinking I'd follow so soon, but I'll admit that I was concerned." She looked away out over the lake as she spoke. 

"Thanks, Olivia." She just nodded and continued to look out over the water.

Minutes passed as they both munched quietly on the trailmix and took sips of water from the camelbaks. Neither felt the need to talk so they just sat and let the foreign sounds of nature surround them. City life was so different from this quiet solitude. For one, New York never stopped. Even in the middle of the night, there was this entire different world out there. Out here, Mother Nature ruled with an iron fist. If the creatures weren't ready for when she signaled Father Winter, no amount of scrounging would put together enough food stores for the season.

Elliot caught movement out of the corner of his right eye and slowly moved his head around. Surprise filled his eyes at the sight. "Olivia," he whispered as he slowly scooted backwards.

"What?" she asked in return just as quietly.

"Look over there," he whispered back while slowly raising his hand to point back past his shoulder.

"What is it, Elliot? I can't see past you and that big rock."

"It's a deer and her baby. Hang on," he said. Slowly he turned at the waist to face her, and by slipping an arm around her waist and the other under her knees, he easily picked her up and shifted her until he could just sit her across his lap. "Now can you see them?"

"Yeah," she said excitedly as she leaned out to see better. She looked back at him with pure excitement in her eyes. "That's an awfully big baby, Elliot. Probably from this year?"

"I'm guessing. Don't know much about them except that we don't see them in the city. Kind of cool, isn't it?"

"It's wonderful. Almost makes this whole trip worth..." She looked at him in horror at the slip of her words. "Oh, Elliot. I'm sorry! I didn't mean--"

"Olivia, don't worry about it. I know what you meant and what you didn't. Just enjoy this, will you? For me?"

Olivia leaned her head forward to meet his. "I'm still sorry," she whispered.

"I know. So am I," he whispered back and then hugged her. Looking back to the deer, they both saw that another two does and yearling had joined the first now. All of a sudden they could see tree branches moving further down and out stepped a large, fit buck from the cover, his rack looking majestic in the sunlight. As he turned his head they could count the many points.

"Wow," breathed Elliot. "He's beautiful." The small group now stood about 100 feet away and they slowly made their way to the edge of the lake to take turns drinking their fill. The buck stood to the back guarding them. Olivia and Elliot saw the buck spot them and they both froze as he did. The deer slowly made his way to the does while keeping an eye on the two of them sitting huddled together on the large boulder. The larger of the does finished drinking and walked back to stand with the buck. She saw them and continued to stare at them and flick her ears as the buck now made his way to the water's edge for his turn.

Elliot and Olivia sat very still throughout this little slice of life nature show, barely breathing so as not to appear as it they were moving. Elliot's arms tightened around her just as her arm snugged around his neck to hold him close. Minutes passed as the buck returned to his original position, and at some unseen signal, they all turned as one and bounded away across the snow with tails flagging.

Letting out their breath they looked at each other and grinned. Olivia hugged him again. "Oh my God, that was wonderful! I can't believe that we got to see something like that." 

"A definite first for me, Liv. As Dickie would say, that was 'wicked cool.'" Olivia laughed and leaned her shoulder back into him. They were quiet for a few minutes as they thought about what they'd seen.

Olivia straightened and then looked down to push her sleeve back and glance at her watch. "Well, if you're about ready to head back, it's going to be dark by the time we get to the house. Then we can warm up, grab showers and start on dinner. What do you say?"

"I say we're not going anywhere until you decide to move, Liv."

She laughed at him. "Well, it _is_ pretty comfortable here, and at least _my_ butt isn't cold."

"Move your ass, honey, because _mine_ is."

Olivia turned to step down on the other rock and then to the ground. "Slavedriver," she muttered.

"For that, you're helping with dinner," said Elliot as he stood beside her.

"Okay," she agreed and shrugged her shoulders.

They both stepped into their skis and Elliot took the trail first. Staying only a few feet behind him, they stayed together as they glided along on the trail. Birds were flying everywhere as they tried to find that one branch that would keep them hidden from the elements. They even saw a couple of squirrels making a mad dash across the snow from one tree to another. They pointed these things out as they saw them and laughed at the animals hurrying about. What they didn't know was the reason the animals were so busy. The creatures knew something that they didn't. Mother Nature was going to be stopping by again that night and all of the animals wanted to be in their homes before she arrived. Luckily, by that time, Olivia and Elliot would be none the wiser, as they'd be tucked back in at the cabin.

*****


	8. 8

Chapter 8

A time later, the interior lights could be seen in the distance. They skied on and made good time returning to the house as the light was beginning to fade. It seemed to get darker more rapidly up here than in the city. But then again, that could just have been the lack of artificial light. Following their trail around the edge of the house, they came to a stop at the garage. Both being pretty much out of breath, they kicked out of their skis and entered the garage quietly. They put the skis and poles back and stripped out of their outer clothing and headed into the house.

"Do you want some coffee, Liv?"

"Not right now. I'm heading for the shower."

"What? Not the Jacuzzi?" He really did like to tease her about that tub because he knew she loved to take those long soaks. How did he know? Many missed phone calls with the explanation of 'I was soaking...shut up.'

"No. It's yours tonight."

"Me? Why?" he asked as he dumped grounds into the coffeemaker.

"Elliot, I run. With the majority of your exercise being weights, can you really tell me that your shoulders and thighs aren't protesting the workout they got?"

A tiny smile lifted the corner of his mouth. "No, I can't say that I'm not a bit sore. Maybe you're right. Finish your shower and I'll soak for a while."

"Okay," she agreed, turning to head for the stairs. "While you do, I'll start on the potatoes for dinner. Baked sound okay?"

"Yeah. I'm going to check the steaks and rummage around for whatever else I can find. Any preferences?"

"Nope. Chef's choice." With that she went upstairs. Grabbing her other set of clean sweats from her bag, she headed for her oasis. _If I could only think of a way to take this room home with me_, she thought as she turned on the shower and let the hot water build up as she stripped off her sweaty clothes. _But I'd probably have the largest water bill in the complex from nightly soakings in that tub._ She reached into the side cabinet and chose a lavender body wash and stepped into the shower. A huge sigh escaped as the hot water beat into her sore muscles. No way would she admit to Elliot that she was pretty sore, too. She slowly began to relax as the light fragrance of the lavender tickled her nose as she let it foam and began to wash up.

A bit later she shut off the water and grabbed the large towel she'd placed on the rack and wrapped it around herself. She patted up the water from her hair and towel-dried it before toweling off the rest of her body. Changing into her sweats, she stepped to the Jacuzzi and turned on the water full. It was silly to think about it, but she wanted to do something nice for Elliot, and running the bath was the only thing she could think of at the moment. She went back to the cabinet and perused the contents. Knowing that he'd laugh himself hysterical if bubbles were found in the tub, she chose a light chamomile oil that had very little scent. It'd be just enough to relax his muscles and he probably wouldn't even realize it. While the tub continued to fill, she grabbed the hair dryer and finished blowing out her hair. Looking at it closely she noted that it was almost time for another appointment with her stylist to have the highlights redone. Some days she missed her longer dark brunette tresses, but it was simply impractical for the hazards of her job and she liked the lighter look. She remembered trying to walk down the street while holding a conversation with Elliot in the earlier days of their partnership and she'd spend most of the time pulling the hair from her mouth as it'd blow across her face. _This is much better_. Finally growing out of the short crop she'd worn for a bit, the longer bangs seemed to frame off and soften her face, but the style was still simple enough to manage and care for with her demanding schedule. Hearing the pitch of the water change as it neared completion; she turned and shut off the faucet. Sticking her hand in the water she judged it to be near perfect. Setting a large towel on the step to the tub, she grabbed her dirty clothes and headed downstairs.

"Elliot," she said, jogging down the stairs. "When you're finished, bring your dirty clothes back down and I'll throw them in to wash. Okay?"

"Sure." 

"What's next to do?" she asked on her way to the mudroom which also housed the washer and dryer.

"Whatever you want, Liv. The steaks are sitting out right now. I pulled out two large potatoes and I just sliced up some mushrooms that we can sauté when the steaks are almost done. I'm going to head up."

"Okay. Enjoy."

Olivia went back into the kitchen and set about washing the potatoes and setting the temperature on the oven. Looking through some of the lower cabinets, she found the aluminum foil and wrapped the potatoes and set them aside. In the refrigerator she located fresh produce bags full of green beans and snap peas and set them on the counter. Deciding that everything else could wait until Elliot was back downstairs, she headed for the great room. No dining at the counter tonight. Since it was to be the last night in the house, she wanted that large fireplace lighting up a dimmed room. It may just be a couple of friends sharing dinner, but what the hell; they'd have fun with it.

Upstairs, Elliot grabbed the remaining clothes from his overnight bag and headed for Liv's bathroom off the master bedroom. Passing through the door he took quick note of the room and decided that they should have flipped a coin for this room. He was a goner once he saw the 60" screen on the wall. Opening one of the cabinets, he found all of the DVDs he'd been looking for. _Hmm, too bad we'll be on the road tomorrow. Popcorn and a movie would be fun._ Frowning, his thoughts continued._ Forget about that, man. You've got enough to deal with at home_. He opened the door to the bathroom and stopped. _Oh. My. God._ Looking at the interior he could have sworn that he was near some outdoor waterfall area. What appeared to be natural stone formed the entire one wall where the Jacuzzi and shower stall resided. Real vined plants sat along an upper ledge and draped down over the stone. _No wonder she squealed last night. I'm never going to be able to drag her away from this place_, he thought for a moment. _And to be honest, I don't think I can blame her._

Setting his clothes down on the counter he turned to step up to the tub to turn on the faucet, but realized that the tub was already full. _What the...?_ And then he smiled. _Damn. Why is it that my partner takes better care of me without saying a word than my wife? _He sobered quickly at that thought. _Because I don't allow her to, I think. She'd ask and I always said I was fine._ Feeling a bit guilty at his train of thought, he decided to put thoughts of what he needed to do back in New York on a back burner for now. There was nothing he could do from here, and to be honest, he wanted to enjoy a good evening with Olivia. Her thoughtfulness at drawing this bath touched him deeply and he thought about that as he stripped and stepped into the tub. The water was intensely hot, but as he slid down into it, almost at once he could feel the muscles in his thighs and back reacting. A light scent tickled his nose, but it was nothing offensive. Holding his hand up, he could see a slickness to the water than proved his theory that Olivia had slipped some type of bath oil into the water. _At least I don't smell like some flower_, he thought as he sunk down further into the tub and pushed the button to start all of the jets. _Oh God_, he thought as the jets of water hit his sore muscles. _That feels so good. I think I'm going to fight her for this tub._ A beat later. _Or ask her to join me. _His eyes flew open. _Oh shit. Shut up, Stabler_, he mentally shouted. Sighing, he took a deep breath and that was one of his last cohesive thoughts as he let his mind wander and his muscles unwind as he held his breath and slipped his head under the water.

Downstairs, Olivia was standing in front of the fireplace she had just lit, gently biting a fingertip as she contemplated her next move. Stepping forward she bent down and pulled the coffee table further away from the couch. Looking from it to the fireplace, she then turned it perpendicular to the couch. That way one of them wouldn't have to sit with their back to the fire. Walking to the side of the fireplace, she picked up two large floor pillows and brought them to the center of the room so she could place one on either side of the table. She knew there was an actual dining room on the other side of the hall, but who would want to go in there when this fabulous fireplace warmed both the room and her soul? The soft lighting it provided to the room kept it cheery but created an atmosphere that just might be enough to make her partner comfortable enough to talk. Olivia had the feeling that a lot of thinking had been done on that rock this afternoon and if he needed to talk, she wanted him to feel comfortable and not in the spotlight. And if he said nothing? That would be fine, too. Didn't mean that they couldn't enjoy the ambience of the cabin.

Olivia walked back to the kitchen and checked the oven, then set in the potatoes to bake. Considering that she thought Elliot would soak for a while upstairs, she looked at the wine rack and thought about pulling a bottle. Deciding that maybe alcohol wasn't the way to go this early in the evening, she grabbed a large wine goblet and opened the refrigerator to grab the pitcher of ice tea that she'd made a bit earlier. She added a few ice cubes and picked up the glass and took a sip. Setting the glass back down, she walked over to a china hutch on the far wall and pulled out a couple of plates. _We're going to enjoy this meal in style_, she thought as she smiled. Looking down, her smile widened at the fact that she was in sweats. _Okay, a very _casual_ dinner on china plates._ She carried them back and set them on the counter, moving to choose silverware from the drawer. She grabbed the placemats from earlier that day and her glass and walked back to the great room. Setting her glass on a coaster on the end table, she arranged the placemats and silverware on the coffee table. Olivia grabbed her book from earlier and curled up at the end of the couch, one arm reaching out to grab the stereo remote and turning on the system. Soft, deep jazz with a hint of acoustic guitar fell from the hidden speakers as she opened her book and took a sip of her ice tea. Outside the large windows, Mother Nature had unzipped the snow clouds once again and large, powdery flakes added themselves to their cousins from earlier that day.

Later, Olivia rose and returned to the kitchen for a refill on her drink. Pulling down a second wine glass, she filled it with the ice tea and left it on the counter for Elliot. She returned to the couch and her reading, taking a sip from her own glass. There wasn't anything to do for dinner until the steaks were on their way, and that was his department. The potatoes were baking in the oven and the vegetables and salad were all that she had left to complete. Minutes compared to the grilling time of the steak. 

Elliot came downstairs and took his dirty clothes to the mudroom and tossed them in the washer. Seeing that Olivia had already added some detergent, he shut the lid and started the machine. Walking into the kitchen, he looked over the grill and turned on the unit. Listening, he found that he liked her choice of music. Maybe not all the time, but it seemed to fit with their moods and the location. As he set about readying the grill and the steaks, he thought back a bit on that flash of unintentional thought he'd had in the Jacuzzi. Maybe, just maybe, when everything was said and done, he'd take a chance. Thinking deeply as he was, he didn't notice that Olivia had wandered into the kitchen until she spoke.

"Feel better?" she asked as she set her glass on the counter.

Looking up at her, he replied, "Yeah, not bad." He looked back down at the steaks, but couldn't help the tiny smirk that pulled at the corner of his mouth. "And Liv? Thanks for not letting me smell like a big flower." He glanced at her to see a sweet smile on her face. _Good, she knows what I meant. She really does seem to understand me. I'll admit that scares me._

"You're welcome, El. Besides, a flower smell just wouldn't be you." Changing subjects because she could see his slight discomfort, she continued, "Anything you need me to do?"

"Nope, just whatever else you had planned for dinner."

"Okay." She walked around the island and worked at the counter to Elliot's right. Both were quiet; not uncomfortable, but quiet in the knowledge that they didn't have to talk just for the sake of talking. Olivia took the bag of green beans and snapped the stems and washed them and the snow peas off. Taking a piece of aluminum, she made a pouch of it and placed the beans and pods inside and then lightly closed it. She turned and reached around Elliot to place the pouch at the top side of the grill. "Turn that every few minutes, would you?" she asked. He simply nodded in reply. She patted him on the back in thanks and walked to the oven to check the potatoes. "Just a few more minutes on those, too," she said. Grabbing a small frying pan, she turned on the stove and added a bit of oil. It heated quickly to which she added the chopped mushrooms that Elliot had readied earlier. She crushed open a clove of garlic, dicing it small and adding it to the mushrooms. Using a wooden spoon, she mixed the contents, turned back the heat and covered the pan.

Opening the door to the refrigerator, she checked the crisper and found different types of loose leaf lettuce and other fixings for their salads. Elliot watched her work smoothly as she tore up the lettuce and then walk back over to the china hutch for salad bowls and ... what were those? Oh, sherbet dishes. He knew he and the other guys teased her quite a bit for not cooking much, but now realized that it was more than likely she didn't simply for the fact of cooking for one was a drag. Deciding to test his theory, he turned from the grill and stepped up behind her and looked over her shoulder. "I don't know, Liv. If you couldn't cook, I don't think you'd be this comfortable in the kitchen," he teased gently.

"Ha ha. Actually, I do like to cook – it's just that pesky 'cooking only for yourself' thing that puts a damper on it most of the time. You've eaten at my place, El. Was it really that bad?" she said as she continued to put their salads together.

"No, but I remember most of those meals coming out of the freezer."

"True. Fresh stuff tends to spoil before I really get to use it. Our hours aren't very favorable to cooking every night."

"Yeah, mine is..._was_ usually a covered plate sitting in the 'frig." He stepped back to let her pass as she took the salad bowls over to the coffee table. He waited for her to comment on his slip of word, but she intentionally ignored it. "We're sitting on the floor, Liv? There is a table here, you know."

"Yes, I know. And I don't want to eat in the kitchen. This is our last night here, and I don't have a fireplace like this in my home so I would like to enjoy it as much as possible."

Elliot chuckled. "And here I thought you'd fight tooth and nail to take that bathroom with you."

One of her bright, wide smiles graced her face. "Isn't that amazing? It's like an oasis or something. And it's not overdone. It's just perfect and comfortable."

"Yeah, it is. But I want that screen that's in your room. I knew we should have flipped a coin."

"Not a chance, buster. I'd still have won." Olivia walked back into the kitchen and upon checking the freezer she found it to be well stocked. "How much time on the steaks?"

"About fifteen on yours and ten on mine. Why?" he asked as he turned both of the steaks over and rotated the vegetables again.

"Nothing." She pulled a container of plain vanilla ice cream out to thaw a bit and then checked the refrigerator one more time. _Ah ha, perfect_, she thought as she located package of strawberries that she thought she'd seen earlier. Grabbing a towel, she cleaned off a few and de-stemmed them and then grabbed a cutting board and knife to dice them up. She could feel Elliot's gaze on her back and knew she had him confused at preparing dessert now. She giggled inside. _It's so fun to throw him off_. Taking the sherbet dishes, she picked a scoop from the drawer, filled them both with the ice cream, and topped them off with the diced strawberries. Setting one next to Elliot with a spoon, she walked to the other side of the counter with hers.

*****


	9. 9

Chapter 9

Elliot looked down at the ice cream and up at Olivia and back again. "Liv? Ice cream when it's cold and we haven't even eaten dinner?"

Spooning some up, she said, "Shhhh. Don't tell the protocol police. Got to break the rules every once in a while, partner." She grinned at him. "So, dessert is first tonight."

Elliot laughed back at her before taking a bite of his dessert. "Oh, that's good." He looked at her as she smiled. "I don't know, Liv. I could get used to you being this bubbly. Is this what you're like when I get you out of the city for awhile?"

She sobered a bit. "Oh, I can be like this a lot of other times, El, but it's hard with what we see every day. To be honest, I'm surprised that you're as calm right now as you are. I figured that you'd be a real bear with everything that has happened in the past day. Are you sure you're okay?"

He shrugged. "As good as I can be, I guess. Nothing I can say to Kathy right now would make a difference, and I did do a lot of thinking out on that rock today." He finished the ice cream and checked the steaks again. "Look, this stuff is almost ready. Do you mind if we continue that particular conversation later?"

"Not at all. We don't even need to continue it later if you don't want to. I'm just concerned for you." She grabbed his dish and placed both in the sink and then she handed him the plates for the steaks.

He took them with one hand and set them down while with the other, he took her hand and pulled her into a gentle hug. "Thanks for the concern, partner. I'll be fine no matter what happens, okay?"

Olivia laid her head on his shoulder and placed her hands at his waist. If she dared to slide them around to his back for a full hug, she was afraid she'd never let go. "I know," she said quietly. "But you're my best friend and I _am_ worried. I'm worried for the kids, and for what Kathy might try..."

Elliot hugged her tighter, and tipped his head to place a light kiss on her forehead. "We'll be fine, Livvy." He felt her chuckle at his use of the dreaded moniker. "What?"

"I hate that name. Makes me sound like I'm five."

"Nah. It's just perfect for those very rare special occasions when we're both needing comfort." He looked down at her face and saw an evil smirk appear. "However, if you even _think_ of trying out 'Ellie – " He dropped his head down to whisper directly in her ear. " – I _will_ hurt you." He felt her shiver as his breath tickled her ear and then felt her body shake as the giggles grabbed her.

"How...how did you know that's what I was thinking?" she asked in between giggles.

He laughed along with her. "I can read your face like a book, Liv. It was written there plain as day."

Olivia gave up and wrapped her arms around him, returning his strong hug. Leaning up to whisper to him, she asked, "El, can I ask a really big favor?" She looked at him innocently awaiting his response.

He looked at her, eyes narrowing slightly as he tried to guess what she was up to. "Sure. What?"

She looked behind him as she turned off the grill. "Can we eat now before the steaks turn to leather?" They both laughed and stepped away from each other. Elliot plated the steaks and vegetables while Olivia pulled the baked potatoes from the oven. They prepared their plates, refilled their ice tea and walked to the coffee table.

Elliot groaned as he sat down. "Are you sure we couldn't have sat in chairs?" he asked as he tried to fold his legs into a position where they wouldn't cramp.

"Not quite in as good as shape as you thought, El?" chuckled Olivia as she easily sat down.

"Shut up, Liv."

"You know, you keep telling me that. One of these days I just might listen and then what will you do?"

"Enjoy the silence?"

"Have I reminded you today that you're a brat?" Olivia sliced off a piece of the steak and tasted it. "Oh God, you're forgiven. This is delicious."

"Glad to see that skinny you will forgive the extra protein. At home, I swear all the girls run screaming from anything that resembles meat." He took a piece of his steak. "Damn, that is pretty good." Spearing some of the beans and snow peas, he continued, "We're pretty good at this cooking thing, you know?"

"Umm. Yeah. I didn't actually realize how hungry I was. You can cook for me anytime, Stabler."

Elliot's fork stopped halfway to his mouth. "That can probably be arranged, Liv. Who knows what will happen?"

She looked at him thoughtfully as she chewed. "After dinner, Elliot, we'll talk about this. Okay?"

He nodded in agreement. "Okay."

They both tucked back into their meal, continuing with the everyday chitchat that they were used to, but this time realizing that serious discussion time was near. Soon they had both cleared their plates and set them off to the side to finish their ice tea.

A soft buzz was heard from the other room. "The washer," said Elliot. "If you'll take care of that, I'll get the dishes."

"Deal." With that Olivia stood and took her plate to the kitchen while Elliot grabbed the placemats and his plate. Olivia walked to the mudroom and changed over the laundry and set the dryer in motion. Going back out to the great room, she took a few minutes to move the coffee table closer to the fireplace and return the floor pillows to beside the fireplace. She then walked behind the couch and pushed it up to meet near the coffee table. _Ah, now the heat from the fireplace can really be felt_, she thought. Hearing no more dish noise from the kitchen, she curled up at the end of the couch closer to the fire and waited for Elliot to return. She glanced over to the kitchen and saw him looking through one of the cabinets. Feeling a bit drowsy from the combination of the heat from the fireplace and the good food, she closed her eyes and waited for him to complete whatever task he had started.

Elliot looked through the cabinets for an after dinner drink. Feeling pretty pleased with the way the meal had turned out, he wanted to finish it off with a nice brandy or something. The image of Olivia sipping from a brandy snifter seated in front of the fire was a picture from his head that he wanted to set up for real. Maybe alcohol wasn't the way to go, but he had a lot of things he wanted to say that might require a little bit of liquid courage. He looked out to the great room and smiled. Olivia's head was tipped to the side and he could see that her eyes were closed in relaxation. Walking over to the china hutch, he found what he was looking for in the lower cabinet. Grabbing two snifters, he picked up the bottle of expensive cognac, poured about three fingers worth into each glass and recapped the bottle. Lifting one glass to his nose, he breathed in the woody and earthy scent that tickled his sense of smell. 

Olivia opened her eyes and looked to her left when she sensed Elliot standing there. She sat up straight and brought her legs in to sit cross-legged to give him room to sit. "What did you find?"

"Would you believe a bottle of Courvoisier XO," he said as he handed her the snifter and sat down with his thigh touching her knees.

"High end cognac? Really?" She raised the snifter to her nose and inhaled. "Oh my," she breathed as she looked up at Elliot. He raised his eyebrow in question.

"You really know how to pick them, don't you? There's a hint of chocolate to this and..." she took another sniff, "Nuts." Tipping the glass she took a small sip. Letting the liquid rest on her tongue she could taste the old-age flavors left by the oak casks. "Oh, that is good. Very warm and almost a bit of a caramel flavor."

He grinned as he too took a sip of the liquor. "I take it that you approve?"

"Wholeheartedly. I enjoy beer as much as you do, but this...this is an experience." She smiled, took another sip and said, "Not that I mind the drink, but is it a requirement for this talk?"

Elliot looked down at the glass in his hands and smiled slightly. "Maybe not for you, Liv, but right now I could use the courage that's hiding in this glass."

She nodded her head and looked thoughtfully at him. "You know you can say anything and that I'm not going to judge you, right?"

He looked directly at her with a sharp look. "Yes, of course I know that, Liv." He took a deep breath. "It's just that I've never spoken about some of this to anyone."

"Hmmm. Like when you told me about that incident with Maureen as a toddler?"

"Yeah."

Elliot held his glass out to her and reached behind his head to grab the collar of his sweatshirt and pull it up. He couldn't see Olivia's face as the shirt covered his face as he pulled it, but her eyes followed the movements of his shoulder and trapezius muscles as he stretched his arms up. Unknowingly, her tongue slipped out to lick at her lips as her eyes remained on those muscles moving under his skin. She took another sip of the expensive liquor. "Warm?" she asked. 

"Cognac, fire heat and nervousness. Yeah, a bit."

She just grinned at him and lifted her glass again.

"Liv?" he queried, looking at her.

"Hmm?" She came back to herself. "Just savoring the drink, Elliot," she said as she handed his glass back to him.

"Right," he chuckled. "You're just daydreaming about keeping that bathroom to yourself." He felt one of her hands reach over and pinch him in the side gently. He smiled at her.

"No, I was thinking about when you stole me away to dinner because I needed the escape a while back."

"Ah, yes. Andy," Elliot scoffed lightly and sipped again at the cognac.

Olivia smiled slightly, "Yes, Andy. You helped me through that evening, Elliot. I'd like to return the favor."

He turned and brought one bent leg up onto the couch, leaning his elbow on the back to hold the side of his head as he looked at her. "Don't you know that just by sitting here and listening and talking that you are helping me? Do you realize just how much more I've always been able to talk to you than my wife?"

"That's because we're partners, Elliot, and together nearly ten, twelve hours a day, if not more. If we couldn't talk, we'd both be dead because it means we couldn't communicate effectively to survive on the streets."

"That's what I've always thought, too, Liv. But why can't I talk to Kathy about this stuff? I know I should have, but every time I thought about it, I just couldn't because I didn't want this job inside my home. I've told her little things, like about the similarities between Jacob Nesbit and Dickie, but nothing compared to us talking."

"If you want to open up and talk to her, go for it. She's either going to be accepting of what you say or she'll tell you to stop. Let it be up to her." She paused for a moment. "El, wasn't this covered in the counseling you mentioned this morning?"

"Yeah. There was a lot about trust and communication. Basic psychology, really. I mean, I know I don't communicate well with her on anything related to work. But she knows that I talk with _you_ about it, so I think that's where some of her jealousy stems from." He looked at her intensely for a moment. "You never guessed that she was jealous of you, did you?"

"To be honest, yes, but not for the reason that you can talk to me. I've always thought it had more to do with all the time I spend with you in close quarters. Some days we're practically living in each other's pockets. I'm guessing I wouldn't be too keen on my husband spending that kind of time daily with a female partner, but I'm not sure."

"And a beautiful woman to boot," he said.

"Thanks," she said quietly as she looked down at the snifter she held.

"But as for trust? Kathy doesn't really trust me anymore, and for that I'm sorry because I blew that one on my own."

"How's that? Because I really can't picture her not trusting you within your marriage."

Elliot looked up at her intently. "Cynthia Wilmont."

Olivia's eyes widened as she realized the implication of that name. "Oh my God, El. That was nearly two years ago."

"Yes, it was. And it was before that that you basically told me to get my head out of my ass or I'd lose the best things in my life." He smiled ruefully. "You weren't too far off base, partner."

Elliot was silent for a bit as he finished off the last of his glass. Setting the snifter down, he rose and walked back to the cabinet to pick up the cognac bottle. Returning, he added another round to his glass and offered it to Olivia. "Not right now, I'm still good."

"You know," he said as he took a seat facing her again, "I'd like to come back here again, Liv. Hell, I'd love to own this place."

She looked perplexedly at him at the complete change in subject, but since it was his show, she followed.

"Kind of difficult for the commute, partner," she said as she sipped slowly from her glass.

"Hmm. Not like there's not going to be enough changes, Liv."

"Elliot, just a few minutes ago you were thinking about talking with Kathy."

"I was basically thinking in theory. Remember earlier when I said before that talking with Kathy right now wouldn't gain me anything? Well, I doubt anything I could say would change the situation."

"What happened? I know it had something to do with your call with Maureen this afternoon."

"Yeah." He took a deep breath. "It goes back to the phone call last night. She demanded that I get home, and even when I told her the circumstances with the weather, her only comment was that if I wanted to be home I'd find a way. Then she laid down her threat. I thought it was just the anger talking, but Cragen confirmed it this morning." He raised his head and looked at her.

"Yeah, you said that this morning. Have you decided what you're going to do?"

"I did a lot of thinking out on that rock today. I tried to be reasonable and look at it from both sides to see if I could fix this. But every avenue of thought I went down, I came to the same conclusion." Another deep breath. "I'm going to do what she wants, Liv..." He looked to the fire, as he didn't want to see the pity on Olivia's face. Her ability to empathize was one of her greatest attributes when dealing with victims, but he didn't want her to fall into his hurt as that would just hurt her.

She looked up at him quickly, almost startled. "You...you're going to transfer, aren't you?" she asked quietly, positive that her world was going to drop away.

"What?" He turned to look at her in bewilderment. "No! No, Liv...I'm not going to transfer. I'm going to agree to her demand for a divorce."

A rush of adrenalin zipped through her system as the relief hit her – and then flowed away just as quickly as she was ashamed for that thought. This was her best friend. She was supposed to support him and help him. Going against the little niggle of happiness that was a tiny little spark within her heart, she played devil's advocate to those thoughts. His family was more important than what she wanted. "Demand? Wouldn't you want to try more in depth counseling? What about the kids?"

He leaned back into the deep couch and looked at his hands. "Yeah, it's a demand. Unfortunately, I got that from Maureen this morning."

"How did she know, Elliot?"

"The twins called her in a panic last night as Kathy stormed around the house throwing my stuff in boxes. She also told me that Kathy contacted her lawyer this morning. More than likely I'll be served with papers Monday morning." 

"How'd Maureen take it?"

Elliot chuckled weakly. "My little girl, who is no longer a little girl but a young lady with a good bit of psychology under her belt, had a very unique take on it. She's upset, but appears to have seen this coming."

Olivia set her glass on the coffee table and then sat back and pulled her right leg back, leaning it against the back of the couch as she moved her left to the floor. Leaning forward, she wrapped her arms around Elliot's waist and squeezed him in a hug from the side. Propping her chin on his shoulder, she asked, "You're going to talk to Kathy, aren't you, El? I know you've said that the counseling didn't seem to be helping, but this doesn't seem like the man I know who would give up on his marriage."

_Oh God, here I go_, he thought nervously. Many things could happen in the next few minutes, and he could feel his heart thumping away in his throat. Reaching down, he picked up Olivia's left hand from where it rested at his side. Lining it up with his palm to palm, he took note on the differences in their hands. His were large, blunt-tipped fingers that could crush the delicate-looking but deceptively strong hand that it supported by the palm. He could feel the quick intake of her breath against his neck. Folding his fingers around hers, he played with them gently as he said quietly, "What if the conclusion I have reached is that I don't _want_ to save my marriage?"

*****


	10. 10

Chapter 10

Olivia almost jerked away in surprise at his last words, but held her spot. Thinking furiously, she said the only words she could think of. "But why wouldn't you, El? Twenty years is a long time to give up on." The fingers of her right hand unconsciously smoothed small circles on his side. The movement was a comfort to both of them.

Elliot took a deep breath and spread his fingers to lace them with Olivia's. _Here goes nothing_. "What if I've been remembering my young partner's heartfelt speech about soul mates? What if _my_ heart is pulling me in another direction?" He felt another sudden intake of breath as the weight of those words hit her. He held onto her hand tightly, but he needn't have feared. Olivia's fingers then tightened around his as did her arm around his torso.

He shivered as she said quietly into his ear, "But you mocked your partner when she imparted her hard-earned wisdom to you on that subject." He hesitated as he thought how to reply and felt her begin to lean away, but he held her hand tightly to stay her movement.

"Elliot, it's okay, I'm not going anywhere. You're fine. Now answer me. You mocked that comment long ago. Why change your tune now?" Olivia squeezed his hand and brought her other arm up from around his back to rest that hand below his neck.

His brain was fried. That had to be it. Scared of the changes that seemed to be moving fast, his brain couldn't seem to engage his mouth. She didn't push him away. She was hugging him. Maybe he had just passed out and oxygen deprivation had him all muddled. He came back to the present when her right hand gently rubbed small circles on his skin at the back of his neck above the t-shirt. "Hey, you here, partner?" He could hear the grin in her voice. "You never answered me."

Elliot's brain finally caught up to the moment and he replied, "Maybe I just couldn't see the forest for the trees in that conversation, Liv." He turned his head so he could look over at her. "After all, in that same conversation you also hinted that you lost your virginity at almost seventeen. I _may_ have been unnaturally locked onto that information for a bit. Which, in turn, made me upset with myself because as a married man, there's no way I should have been dwelling on that information. Then I couldn't _stop_ thinking about it because I kept thinking how lucky that guy was." 

Olivia grinned at the serious look on his face. "You're right, _he_ was lucky. _I_ sure wasn't. Decided then and there that if that's all it was supposed to be, the books sure had it all wrong."

"That's just wrong, 'Livia." A yawn caught him by surprise. "Oh God, it's early yet."

"It's the heat, the cognac and mainly all the exercise." He moved to get up but her arms tightened around him. "Stay, El. I've got one question for you." He looked over at her curiously. "Nothing is going to happen now, but if you decide to follow through with what I _think _your words mean, I'll be here. Okay?"

A bright, contented smile graced his face. "It's more than I think I have the right to hope for, Liv...I'm not changing my mind."

"Then before we go to sleep, I think we can get away with this." He watched her lean into him, a warm, sleepy look in her eyes before they closed and her lips grazed gently and slowly across his. His eyes watched hers open again and the most beautiful smile lit up her face. He knew it had to match the one on his. "That's it?" he teased. 

She pinched his side in retaliation and smiled. "Elliot. You and I both know that if it were any more than that and we'd be making our way up to the master bedroom. And neither of us is ready for that. Now, go to sleep."

"Yeah, right. You expect me to go to sleep after...." Another yawn erupted. "Shit. That?"

Olivia giggled at him. "Somehow, I don't think it's going to be a problem," she said.

"Okay, but this is torture." Elliot moved to stand up. "As much as I'd love to fall asleep right here, Liv, let's go upstairs. I think I need another shower right now." Olivia continued to chuckle. _Damn, I'm better than I thought._

She stood up when he reached a hand out to her and pulled her into a hug. Kissing her on the forehead, he said, "Go to bed. I'll put out the fire and then I'll be up."

"Okay, but there's still more to talk about in the morning before Gilson gets here. I think you know more about the kids' reaction to all this than you are letting on."

"Yeah, we'll talk at breakfast." He turned away from her but not before she saw the evidence of how that one little kiss had affected him. _Life is certainly going to get very interesting_. She turned and headed for the mudroom to collect their clean clothes from the dryer and then went upstairs.

Elliot turned to bank the fire for the night. _Jeezus.__ One little kiss and this is how it affects me. She's going to eventually kill me_. He finished with the fireplace, turned to flick off the lights and followed her upstairs. He stopped at the landing and glanced down at her room, wishing he could go there, but eventually deciding that his own room would be better. _Our time will happen. First things first._ He flipped off the hall light and entered his room.

Olivia laid on her back and stared at the ceiling, a somewhat silly grin on her face as she listened to the shower turn on down in Elliot's room. God, it'd been so tempting to drag him back to her room like some cavewoman. Not that she thought it'd have taken much dragging on her part, considering that she was pretty sure that the shower he was currently in was a cold one. But, and she sobered a bit, now was not the time. He had too many other things on his plate. They would just have to be patient and see what the future held for them. Not that she regretted that little kiss. No, that wasn't a mistake at all. Maybe a little bit premature, but, what the hell. She rolled over on to her side and buried herself under the covers. A small smile took up residence on her face as she slowly fell asleep.

At the opposite end of the hall a while later, Elliot stepped from the shower he'd purposely set for cold and toweled off before stepping into his sweats. Walking into the room from the small bathroom, he hesitated at the bed and looked towards the door. Taking a moment to think, he tossed the towel on the bed and walked down the hallway towards Olivia's room. Slowing to a stop at her open doorway, he glanced inside the darkened room. The room was warm from the small fire she had evidently started before crawling into bed. The light from the fireplace cast a warm, moving glow about the room. Seeing her bundled up under the covers, he could barely make out the top of her head, so he quietly approached the side of the bed and knelt down beside it. His hand hesitated as it moved forward slowly to gently move the cover away from her face so he could look at her. He could see the rapid movement of her eyes beneath their lids and knew that she was deeply asleep. Elliot crossed his arms on the mattress and rested his chin on them as he looked at her for a few moments, never staring hard; as a cop, he knew she'd wake immediately if her body felt anything out of order around her. A couple of minutes passed and he sighed. Taking one last look at her, he softly whispered, "I think I'm in love with you, Liv. Please give me time to work everything out." With that, he stood and walked quietly out of the room back to his own. As he walked away, he didn't see two tear-shiny dark brown eyes open or hear the quiet, "Me, too."

Back in his room, Elliot sat down on the bed and sighed heavily. Tomorrow was going to be a long day, and he'd need to speak to Cragen about his offer of staying with him. Not that he wouldn't have preferred to stay with Olivia, but he wasn't about to besmirch her name so obviously through what was going to become a spectacle within the precinct. The farther he could keep her away from it, the better for the future. He looked over at the clock for the time and saw the phone sitting next to it. Grinning evilly, he reached behind the phone and disconnected the cord. As much as he loved his partner, _she_ could answer the phone in the morning since he had this morning. Swinging his legs around, he slid under the covers and got comfortable. Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, he let himself relax and mentally replayed the earlier conversation downstairs. By the time he got to their kiss, he was sound asleep.

The annoying sound just wouldn't go away. One long, thin arm reached out and felt around for the stupid contraption that was pissing her off. Snagging the receiver, she dragged it back under the covers.

"'ello?" she said in a voice still laden with sleep.

"Detective Benson? It's Chief Gilson."

Coming awake immediately, she pushed the covers down and rolled to her back. Rubbing her hand across her eyes, she said, "I'm sorry, Chief. What is it about the area that makes you sleep so soundly up here? At home, the phone going off one time would have me awake immediately."

Gilson chuckled. "I think it's because you're relaxed, Detective. How long has it been since you've had a vacation?"

"Oh God, don't ask. I don't think I could tell you," she groaned.

"That's why you're sleeping so deeply. Your body has realized that it can relax. You'll have to come back here when you can have a real vacation. Just let me know and I'll put you in contact with my sister."

Olivia grinned. "To be honest, Chief, Elliot was right when he said I'd have to be dragged out of here kicking and screaming. I want to box up the master bath, the downstairs fireplace, _and_ the kitchen and take them home with me."

Gilson laughed cheerfully. "I'll pass that along to Ginny. Glad we could make our screw up so pleasant for you and Detective Stabler. I hope his troubles were solved."

"For the moment, Chief." They were silent for a moment.

"Reason I was calling was to let you know that I can pick the two of you up around eleven to get you back over here to the station. DA Robeson arrived back late last night, so I think we can get everything solved and get the three of you on the road back south."

Olivia looked over at the clock and saw that it was nearly half past nine. "That'll be fine, Chief. They've managed to clear the roads?"

"Not that you'd be able to tell looking out your windows, but yes, the main highways are salted and open. Just take it easy. I'd say your six hour drive is going to be closer to eight, but you should make pretty decent time."

"Thanks, Chief. We'll see you at eleven."

"Not a problem, Detective. See you then." With that, Gilson and Olivia both hung up.

Squinting a bit and thinking, Olivia rose from the bed and padded down the hallway to Elliot's room. Looking in the doorway, she saw him stretched out on his stomach in bed with the covers bunched at his waist, inadvertently showing off the smooth skin and muscles of his back. Swallowing tightly at the sight before her, she walked quietly over to the bedside table. Following a hunch, she reached behind the phone and ended up with an unplugged phone cable in her hand. _That bastard_, she thought evilly. _I'll fix his wagon_. Glancing around her, she spotted her ammunition. Picking up the two throw pillows off the armchair she turned around and stood a step away from the bed. Pulling back her right arm, she took aim and flung the pillow at Elliot's head. She quickly sent the second one sailing towards him.

"What the he—" he shouted in surprise as he awoke immediately and rolled over believing that some enemy had invaded the room as he was bombarded. Rubbing his eyes, he looked up to see his sleep-rumpled partner with a hand over her mouth trying to stifle the giggles that were trying to escape. 

"What the hell was that for, Liv?" he demanded as laid back against the pillows.

She simply raised her left hand which held the unplugged phone cable. Managing to stop laughing, she said, "For this, you bastard. You unplugged your phone last night."

He grinned and raised his arms to nonchalantly place his hands under his head. He watched her eyes widen slightly in what he hoped was satisfaction. "Of course, I did, Liv. It was your turn to grab the phone. You've been sleeping like a rock up here, so I decided it was _you_ Gilson would get to talk to this morning."

Her eyes snapping back to his face from their previous journey, she said, "That was mean, Elliot. It's about 9:30 again, so get up and dressed. Gilson's going to be here around eleven. Oh, and as much as I love that scruffy mug of yours? Shave." She turned and headed towards the door. She needed to get out of there quick, before her body betrayed her and made her attack him.

"Hey! Don't I get a morning kiss?" he asked mischievously as he sat up. He watched her stop and turn slowly to face him. He could see the slightly nervous look in her eye and the way her tongue snuck out to lick her lips.

"Elliot," she said quietly. "Not that I don't want to desperately; but if we did, do you honestly think we'd leave this room?" She watched him think that through.

"Probably not," he sighed.

Olivia grinned. "There's no 'probably' about it, El. We wouldn't. Now get cleaned up and dressed. I'm going to find something for breakfast before I get dressed." She turned around again and walked out the door.

Elliot rose and headed into the bathroom for a quick shower. _Well_, he thought. _At least we were both on the same wavelength_. 


	11. 11 Final

Chapter 11

Downstairs, Olivia opened the refrigerator and pulled out a container of mixed fruit. She wanted something more substantial for breakfast since they'd be on the road all day, but the sweetness of the fruit was calling her. Taking a forkful, she chewed thoughtfully as she looked out at the great room. Setting down the fork, she walked into the room and took the couch and pushed it back where it belonged from last night. She also picked up their snifters and the bottle of Cognac to replace in the cabinet. Washing out the glasses, she left them in the strainer to dry. They were good crystal; no way was she letting them near the dishwasher. Taking another bite of the fruit, she pulled the carton of eggs and package of bacon from the refrigerator. She couldn't hear the water running upstairs so she knew that Elliot would be down before long.

Heating the skillet, she dropped in a dab of butter and waited for it to melt and spread. Grabbing a loaf of bread, she added the slices to the toaster before turning back to the stove. Knowing that Elliot liked eggs sunnyside from many breakfasts together at work, she held off on his until she heard him come down the stairs. She heard him drop his duffle at the door and make his way to the kitchen to lay his suit jacket over one of the chairs. Cracking the eggs for him into the skillet, she took the two plates he handed to her and set them down. He finished removing the other few dishes they'd used from the dishwasher and put them back in their proper spots. Taking two of the glasses, he filled them with orange juice and placed them on the counter. He also poured two cups of coffee.

The toast popped up and Elliot grabbed the cutting board and a knife to prepare it. Olivia flipped her eggs and grabbed a plate for Elliot's since they were finished. Placing some bacon on the plate, she handed it to Elliot for him to add the toast. She finished her plate and turned off the stove. Taking their seats, they took their time and enjoyed their last breakfast in this magnificent house. Olivia laughed a bit and then explained her amusement. "You're back in a suit and I'm still in pajamas." She shook her head. "It just struck me as funny."

He smiled at her. "The sweats were definitely more comfortable." Picking up his coffee, he said after taking a sip, "I'm going to miss coffee this good. Think we can take a pack back to fix at the house?"

"No."

"Hey, you dislike Munch's coffee as much as I do."

"I know." Olivia was silent a moment as watched her fork push around the eggs on her plate. She had something that she needed to say, but wasn't sure how to go about it. Her partner took care of that.

"Liv, what's bothering you?"

She looked up at him. "Elliot. I know I said I wanted to talk to you about the kids, but thinking later on, I'm pretty sure we're too early to even start guessing what will happen in that area. I don't want to upset them at all and I know the next few months are going to be confusing enough. So, if you want to forgo that conversation for the time being, I'd understand."

"I'll be honest and say that I don't think there's going to be too much of a problem with them. I've been lucky, Liv. My kids all adore you on different levels. When I spoke to Maureen yesterday, she even informed me that she thinks that Kathleen will probably want to attend the Academy because of you." He smiled at her. "I couldn't ask for a better or stronger role model for the girls."

Olivia blushed slightly. "Thank you."

"And look at Dickie. At eleven, I swear he's already got a crush on you. _That_ I might get worried about in a few years if it doesn't go away. Either that or admit that the boy has damn good taste." He grinned and forked up some more eggs.

She just looked down at her plate and continued to eat as she wished away the blush that she knew was staining her cheeks.

A while later, both plates were clean and they sat to finish the last of their coffees. "Why don't you go get dressed and I'll finish off the kitchen?" asked Elliot.

Olivia sighed. "Would it be wrong of me to say that I don't want to leave?"

He smiled slightly. "No, it's not wrong. But, the sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can start moving on, which means the sooner that we can make arrangements to come back here."

Her eyes widened as she looked up at him in surprise. "Are you serious? You'd want to come back here?"

"Hell, yeah, Liv." He reached over and covered her hand with his. "What better place away from everyone who knows us. I would hope that Gilson wouldn't rat on us by then, but it'd be a great place to bring all the kids sometime, too."

"They'd love that, El." She turned her hand over under his and squeezed. "Let me go get changed and packed. Gilson should be here by then." She stood and headed upstairs.

Elliot sat back and watched her walk off. Smiling to himself, he finished off the last of his coffee and stood to gather the dishes. Deciding to simply wash things up in the sink so Gilson's sister wouldn't find a dishwasher full to unload, he carried everything to the sink and turned on the hot water. Rolling up his sleeves, he walked to the small desk area in the great room and rummaged around until he found what he was looking for. He took the envelope back to the kitchen and took a few minutes to wash off their breakfast dishes and the skillet. Rinsing them off, he left everything in the strainer and turned to the island. Reaching for his back pocket, he pulled his wallet and removed two fifty dollar bills. Also taking one of his business cards, he wrote a note on the back to Ginny simply telling her 'Thanks' and to please call him next week as he'd like to speak with her. Placing all items in the envelope, he sealed it and wrote her name across the front and then propped the envelope up against the vase of flowers that sat on the island.

Grabbing a towel, he finished drying the couple plates and returned them to their proper cabinets. Taking one last look around, he noted that everything was where it should be. Looking at the clock, he saw that it was nearly time for Gilson to arrive, so he just went and took a seat on the couch to relax and think. Considering all that would begin to happen when he returned to New York, taking a moment to himself right now sounded like the best thing to do. It probably would be the last for the time being. As upset as he felt about how his marriage had fallen apart, he'd at least still have his kids. And if they wanted to be with him, then he'd fight the court tooth and nail to keep them with him. He'd talk more with Olivia about it, but he was sure that it wouldn't bother her one bit as she was the one who always made sure that he got home as early as he did some nights by offering to finish off the paperwork. She knew how important his kids were to him. And he wasn't kidding when he'd told her earlier on how much the kids liked her. The youngest tended to even refer to her as 'Aunt Liv' because she'd been in their lives for so long. He smiled at the memory of a past Valentine's Day when Lizzie absolutely insisted on making Aunt Liv a card. Dickie had echoed his sister, and it had taken Elliot a while to figure out why Kathy had been so pissed at him. He'd finally realized that she thought he'd put the twins up to it. It took him a week and dinner out to convince her otherwise.

A pounding on the front door interrupted his thoughts, and he grabbed his suit jacket on the way to the door to let in Chief Gilson.

"Hey, Chief!" He shook Gilson's outstretched hand and held the door for him. "We'll be a few minutes yet, if you don't mind. I'm still trying to pry my partner away from her room."

"So she's in love, huh?"

A wide grin graced Elliot's face. _I sure hope so, Chief,_ he thought. Aloud he said, "You could say that. I'm just not sure if it's with the bathroom or the walk-in closet. Earlier it was the fireplace, but she finally gave in and admitted that the car wouldn't be able to handle all of those stones and that I had no experience in rebuilding it in her apartment."

Gilson laughed heartily. "I've got to tell my sister about you two. She'll get a kick out of your partner. Most of her renters barely say 'Thanks' let alone comment on the house itself."

"I'm sure Olivia wouldn't mind expounding on the many wonderful things she took note of. However, if you sister notices that that huge plasma is missing...um...I didn't do it."

The chief chuckled. "Believe me, on Super Bowl weekend, if on a strange chance she hasn't rented the house, we usually move that sucker downstairs and the entire clan meets up over here. We'll notice if it goes missing."

Elliot heard footsteps on the stairs. "Let us just grab our coats and we'll be ready." He turned to the closet and grabbed their trenches off the hangers.

"I'll just grab this bag right now and meet you guys at the truck." Gilson picked up Elliot's duffle and turned to open the door. "Will we have to search your partner's bag for contraband?" he teased.

"Nah, Chief. Wouldn't want to have to arrest her." Elliot closed the door behind the chief and turned to see Olivia walk up.

"I thought I heard voices."

"Yeah, Gilson's here. He just took my bag out. Got everything?"

"Yeah," she said quietly as he helped her into her coat. She wrapped the scarf around her neck as he slipped into his trench and buttoned it up. Taking a deep breath, she stooped to pick up her bag, stepped forward and reached for the door handle. Feeling Elliot's hand on her arm, she turned to look at him, and as she did saw his face coming down to hers.

Lifting his other hand to cradle her cheek, he looked her straight in the eyes and said softly, "Last chance before hitting the real world, Liv." The look in his eyes stunned her and didn't protest when he softly kissed her. Heat flushed through her cheeks and she opened her mouth slightly and invited him in. She dropped her bag and reached both hands behind his neck to bring him closer to her. His tongue reached for hers and they both moaned quietly as the kiss deepened. Ignoring the need for air, Elliot wrapped his arms around her under her coat and simply picked her up and stepped to the wall. Olivia's arms went around his neck and she returned the kiss.

The tight rein she held on her emotions slipped a bit as she felt the strength in his arms as he held her against the wall. She closed her eyes and tipped her head a bit to take advantage of her position and allowed him total access to her mouth. His tongue left heat behind as it stroked against hers and his arms tightened their hold on her. One of her hands left his neck to slide up through the short hair on the back of his head. Her nails lightly scratched his scalp and caused a shiver to run through his body.

Moments passed and then by a seemingly unspoken mutual agreement, the kiss slowly came to a halt. Elliot stepped back from the wall and let Olivia's feet touch the floor. Looking up at him, she smiled softly and pulled a hand from behind his head to let her fingers brush over his lips. He kissed them as they went by and then felt her thumb press slightly harder to remove some lipstick that stained the corner of his mouth. He leaned forward and stole one last kiss, pulling back as he felt her sigh.

"Remind me again why I didn't drag you upstairs last night, El," she said.

Smiling back at her he kissed the end of her nose and replied, "Because I need to close one chapter of my life before starting another, especially if I don't want to wreck them both." He took a step to the side and leaned down to pick up her bag. "You ready to go?"

"When I get my breath back I will be."

The expression Olivia mentally called the 'Stabler Shit-Eating Grin" once again made its appearance and he leered at her. "So I leave you breathless, huh?"

Olivia patted him on the chest and turned to hold the door open for him. He stepped through and waited for her to close and lock the door. As they walked out to the truck, he nudged her with his arm. "Well?" he asked.

Smiling her brightest smile, the one meant only for him, she replied, "Always, partner. Always."

Grin still in place, Elliot opened the passenger door and waited for her to seat herself before closing it and putting her bag in the back. Seating himself, he struggled to bring back his professional persona as Gilson began backing out of the driveway. His mind was whirling with thoughts and possibilities for the future. He looked up and caught dark brown eyes twinkling back at him through the visor mirror above her.

_We _can_ make_ _this work_, he thought.

And he smiled right back at her.

End

A/N: Many thanks to many ladies.

AeroGirl: Beta extraordinaire and my very own comma cop (that's right...just send me to Elliot for punishment g) AG is getting dragged into this fandom one way or another ;) and I guarantee you will be seeing some amazing work from her.

Kat: For her dear friendship and sanity-saving missions out here. And her recent mention of my writing to a certain individual and making my day/month/year/century. And an amazing writer who continually keeps me entertained at work g Now will you please get busy on DYTT? g

Lori: For letting me play in her universe and her awesome conversation co-writes (99% of the funny lines in this story are her direct influence.)

SidleSmile: An amazing writer, cheerleader extraordinaire and evil-minded plotter ;). Vegas will never be the same after we were there g

This is just the short list...I'd never shut up if I got to everyone! So, a huge thank you to all.


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